





A FAMILY HISTORY 



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Tiric Carroll Record Print, 

TANKYTOWN, MI). 

1909. 



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Copyright. 1909, by 
THE CARROLL RECORD COMPANY 



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This work seems trivial, but if the founders of the family 
had recorded such things, the record would now be of interest, 
so />r^5<?rz;^ what is written here. While writing, I kept in 
mind the legend on an old sun-dial of Venice. "I count only 
the hours that are serene." 



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A FAMILY HISTORY. 



The house in which I now reside, in Uniontown, Carroll County, 
Maryland, was built by John Hyder in 1811, on a lot purchased of 
Erhart Cover. This lot was part of a tract of land called The Orchard, 
at that time in Frederick County. [Carroll was formed from part of 
Frederick Co., in 1837.] John Hyder was born in Frederick County in 
1787. There is a certificate of his birth in this house. It is written in 
German, the writing and ornamentation, by John Wm. Hyder, father 
of J. H. J. W. H. was from Anspach, Franconia, Germany. He was 
a very pious man. He was a school-teacher. He opened his school 
daily with prayer. He died suddenly one day, on his way home from 
school. His wife was Elizabeth Stitely. She died in 1854, at the age 
of 85. I have a lock of her hair, cut off at that time. It is a beautiful 
brown. They said she had not a gray hair. Besides John, were two 
other sons, William and Jacob. William married Eliza Hoff, York, 
Pa. Their only child, Quincy, spent a day or two here in the early 
fifties, when I was a child. He looked like the framed picture of Billy 
Hiteshu, that is at this writing, in the parlor of John H. Gehr, Waynes- 
boro, Pa. Quincy had, when he was here, lately heard Jenny Lind, 
the world-famed singer. He said she looked as if she lived upon coarse 
fare. There is a letter in the house, written by him in 1853, on board 
the ship Relief, then at Rio Janeiro, S. A. He was in the pay-depart- 
ment, U. S. Navy. He died unmarried, at U. S. Naval Hospital, War- 
rington, Fla. 

Of Jacob Hyder's children, Isaac became a prosperous merchant, 
of Emmitsburg, Md., where he died. There are some verses in the 
house, written by him on the death of his grandmother, E. S. H., 1854. 
Isaac's father, Jacob H., married Sarah Lightner. 

Margaret, one of the daughters, married Daniel Rhinehart, a broth- 
er of the famous Carroll Co., Md., sculptor, Wm. Rhinehart— [At the 
time of his birth, Carroll formed part of Frederick Co.] Wm. Rhine- 
hart, the sculptor, died at Rome. The wreath from his casket, his 
artist implements, and some of his work, notably "Clytie," and a bust 



of his mother, are at the Peabody, Baltimore, Md. He completed the 
bronze doors at the Capitol, Washington, D. C. There is some of his 
work at Greenmount cemetery, Baltimore, where he lies, his life-size 
bronze "Endymion," marking the spot. Margaret's daughter, Olivia, 
inherits her uncle's talent. She is, at this writing. Art teacher at 
Western Md. College, Westminster. She studied in Paris, at the Julien 
studio. I read, in the College Journal, a very pleasant letter written 
by her whilst she was summering near Paris. 

John Hyder [born 1787] married Catharine Delaplaine, born 1788, 
near the village of Woodsboro, Frederick, Co., Md. [Isaac Renner 
afterwards bought the home.] Her father's name was John, and her 
mother was Sophia Sheelar. [The mother of Sophia Sheelar was Han- 
nah Chandler, of Germantown, Pa.] The Delaplaines were Huguenots. 
From my infancy I was told that they came over at the time of the 
Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, 1685. [One Delaplaine accounts 
for the name by saying that they formed part of that Greek colony that 
settled near Marseilles, B. C. 600. That they were from the plains of 
Marathon: De la Plaine. But history says that those Marseilles settlers 
were Phocians.] A sketch of the Delaplaine family, written by Judge 
N. Norris Delaplaine, of Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio, and published 
in the county paper, says: "The traditional history of this family goes 
back to the crusaders, and the shores of the blue Mediterranean, and 
the waters of the Rhone, where their ancestors had rich possessions in 
the chivalric days of France, but lost their estates in civic and religious 
revolutions." [Judge N. N. D. was nephew of C. D. H.] Baird, in 
his history of the Huguenots, mentions Marie Delaplaine (1692) mar- 
ried to Jean Le Chevalier, New York. 

October, 1895, I visited Rocky Hill grave-yard, near Woodsboro, 
Frederick Co., Md., where I saw these tombs: [Father of Catharine 
Delaplaine Hyder.] In memory of John Delaplaine, who departed this 
life June 25, 1804, in the 63rd. year of his age. [Brother of C. D. H.J 
Here lies the body of Jeremiah Delaplaine, who was born 2nd. of April 
1781, and departed this life 12th. of November, 1800. [Sister and broth- 
er of C. D. H.] Hannah Delaplaine, born 1768, died 1772, (and on the 
same stone) John Delaplaine, born 1772, died 1772. [Sister ofC. D. H.] 
Mary Delaplaine, born 1767, died 1772. 

C. D. H. afterwards had another sister Mary, married to John 
Carmack. I shall speak of her later. [These four tombs that I saw at 
Rocky Hill, I had heard of from my infancy.] — "Aunt" Betsy Yingling* 
told me that when John Hyder brought his bride, C. D. H., to Union- 
town, Md., she — Betsy — ran down the hill, to a fence along the road, 
to get a peep at the newly-wed. She was then Betsy Hiteshu, and 
lived at hei parents' home, a beautiful house, surrounded by a lawn, on 
a very elevated spot, at the head of the village. It afterward became 



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the home of Charles Hiteshu, Betsy's brother, and Caroline, his wife, 
daughter of John Hyder, and C. D. H. 

John Hyder and his wife lived while their house in Uniontown was 
building, at a place called the Meadow, a little way out of the village, 
and directly north of where their new house was to stand. The house 
at the Meadow was close to a fine spring, and the lower floor was af- 
terwards used as a dairy. The owners of the place lived in a house a 
little way off on the hillside. 

There is, at this writing, an unusually large and spreading walnut 
tree standing in the meadow near the spring. C. D. H. used to tell 
me that as a young wife she used to sit often under this tree in pleas- 
ant weather. All of the children were born in the house at Uniontown. 
There is a photo of C. D. H. here, in an oval gilt frame, that looks 
just as she did at the time it was taken, when she was past sixty, but 
you cannot know from that, about her pure comple.x;ion, like a china 
radish, I used to say. She was tall, and of a remarkably fine and com- 
manding presence. She attended church "down below, " as we vil- 
lagers termed it. A small white frame building in the grave-yard. 
There was a two-leaved door, with a flight of steps running up to it, 
in the gable-end, facing the road, but she always went around to the 
smaller, side-door, with a broad, low step, and in my memory of child- 
hood, a peach tree overhanging it. Near this door, within the church, 
was her accustomed seat during service. The pulpit was like a half 
tub (divided vertically, that is) set into the wall about one-third up 
from the floor. It was painted white, with yellow panels, and had 
balustered steps leading up to it on the one side that was open. Un- 
der, or in front of the pulpit, beneath, was a table, painted a sulphur 
yellow, and as glos.sy as hard-wood polished, or marble. 

There was another church, (in the village) which was called "up 
above," and in fact it was on such an elevated point that it was one of 
the first objects seen as you approached Uniontown from any direction. 
It had arched, two-leafed doors of unpainted oak on three sides, and aisles 
paved with brick. On the fourth .side, within, was an unpainted oak 
tub-pulpit, at least ten feet up, and over it hung, suspended from an 
iron rod fa.stened to the lofty, vaulted ceiling, an immense "sounding 
board." The pews were also of oak and with sides so high that as a 
child I felt walled in by them. Galleries ran around the church, 
lighted by a second row of windows, arched like those of the first row. 
Both churches were lighted for night service by tallow candles set in 
tin sconces, fastened to the oaken pillars that supported the galleries. 
For the pulpit, were lard-burning lamps, fastened in sockets. For the 
mid-week prayer service, there was on the table beneath the pulpit, a 
candle-stick with a broad base that served as a tray for the snuffers. 
The reading of the chapter had numerous, impressive breaks whilst 



these instruments were in action. The praise of both night and da\- 
service was also effectively punctuated by the "line-ing" of the hymns. 
Two lines of each stanza were "given out;" that is, read, then sung, 
then two more, and so continued to the finish. 

The reader, "down-below" was often one Martin IV/tiieleather , a 
layman. Into his prayer which followed the chapter, he never failed 
to bring the phrase, "this onfriendly world;" words without meaning 
to my childish perception. The invocation of another, always includ- 
ed a petition for, "the lost sons of the Adamic race." Who will 
gainsay me, when I claim, to dub this last withal, the titles, "vast" 
and "universal," aforetime the exclusive property of one Shakespeare. 

C. D. H. had a friend who in my childhood, came to see her for a 
few minutes daily. She always seated herself at one end of the long 
"settle" in the living-room, its arm supporting her elbow. She always 
addressed 3'ou as "honey." [Her father was one of the first settlers 
of "Baltimore town." One of its lanes bore his name.] CD. H. 
named one of her daughters for this friend. 

John Hyder had the Uniontown Postoffice from the time it com- 
menced business, 1815, until his death, 1848. [There is a post-office 
book in the house which has a record in his hand-writing: Office com- 
menced business Nov. 15, 1815.] Besides, he did surveying and law- 
writing, the latter in both English and German. There are, in the 
house, parchments with seal, 1744, course book, 1762, local road-maps, 
made by J. H., letters from Missouri Territory, 1818, copies in Ger- 
man, made by J. H., of letters he wrote to Germany, &c. His books 
all contain his name and the price he paid for the vol., in his own 
writing. 

I remember the last year that j. H. had the post-office. A yellow 
stage-coach, like those described by Dickens, ran from Baltimore to 
Emmitsburg, through Uniontown. I know the coach the fairy made 
out of a pumpkin for Cinderella was exactly like it— pumpkin shape, 
cushioned within with figured red velvet, a seat at either end, and a 
middle, narrow seat with only a strap for back. Each seat was ex- 
pected to hold three pensons. The coachman's seat, built against the 
enclosed front of the coach, was far above the level of the horses. On 
the top of the coach, railed in, was the baggage. 

When I made my first child- visit to Baltimore, there were among 
the passengers, a lady and her daughter. The girl had been at school 
at St. Joseph's, Emmitsburg. They were going home, to New York 
City. The lady got sick riding backwards, and she went up on the 
box beside the coachman. What a heroine she was to me ! I pon- 
dered, how she got up, and how she could keep from tumbling off. 
As we neared the city. I voiced my amazement at such a prodigious 
number of houses, spread far and wide. Said the big girl to the little 

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one: "You ought to see New York!" A coach started from Balti- 
more 8 a. m., arriving at Uniontown 4.30 p. m. 

C. D. H. died 1863. The morning of the day she died, she walked 
out on the pavement. Twilight she was seized with a violent pain in 
her back, and went to lie down. The doctor, next door, who was 
.summoned at once, found her dead when he arrived. There is a small, 
brown willow basket here, oval and without a cover. Her work- 
basket. The miniature, oval band-box in it, is where she kept her 
thimble. 

July following her death was the battle of Gettysburg. At that 
time, the 2nd. Federal army corps, Hancock's division, and part of 
another corps, were around Uniontown for several days. About 20,000. 
We trembled at the sound of their tramp, tramp in the twilight, as they 
arrived tired, hungry and thirsty. We carried out buckets of water, 
with dippers, and nearly all of the bread in the house. We had some 
biscuit which happened to be very fine. The next morning a soldier 
came and wanted to know if we had any more of those biscuits. I 
shouldn't wonder if he was "the only son of his mother and she a 
widow." There was not a single instance of damage to the communi- 
ty during their stay. There were soldiers lying thick upon our front 
pavement every night, some with their horses and mules, but they 
never entered the yard. The .sound of the army wagons with their 
wooden axles, I shall never forget. 

A boyish-looking soldier handed Mary Hyder a package as they 
passed, declaring he was too tired to carry it. It contained a port- 
folio and some candles. She found an address and wrote to the lady, 
•Vfrs. Jerome, of New York State. The lad was the adopted son of a 
clergyman and his wife. A correspondence ensued between M. H. 
and the mother. Subsequently Mary received a letter from young 
Walter himself, thanking her for her interest. 

The parlor, or best room in the house of J. H., fronted the street, 
and opened into a long, narrow entry. It had two windows facing the 
south. I do not remember all of the original furniture, but I know some 
of it from hearsay-. There was an all-wool "rainbow carpet," alter- 
nate stripes, four inches wide, of orange, black, red and green. Wood- 
en chairs, painted yellow, with a basket of flowers design on the back, 
were later replaced by chairs ebonized and ornamented with a gilt 
band. There were in the house also, bent-wood chairs of unpainted 
oak. Swiss muslin curtains, figured in a rose pattern, draped the win- 
dows. The wide, open fire-place with its brass-tipped irons and its 
high mantelshelf, was across one corner. Across another corner was 
the tall clock, still preserved. Above the dial, with its Roman hours, is 
painted a ship plowing the waves. Against this appears the moon, in 
full, or in part, according to its phases. The clock's striking-bell rings 

— 9 - 



purest melody. In other corners of the rooms, on the edges of the 
chair-boards, were corner-boards, with grooved edges (they are yet on 
the garret) useful to hold articles of ornament or utility. 

Sophia Hyder upholstered two of the bent-wood chairs. They are 
here yet, as is the bent-wood oaken arm-chair of J. H. A door from 
this best room led to the postoffice, now used as a library. This room 
had a door and window facing the south and opening on the street. 
The second door to the left as you entered the hall, led to abed-room, 
now used as a dining-room. A door opposite, across the entry led to 
the living-room, which was also the kitchen in winter, with its yawn- 
ing fire-place in which was hanger for the dinner-pot, and ample space 
besides, for the "Dutch-oven," a huge iron bowl, with a dome lid. 
There was also a summer- kitchen, (with a wide fire-place,) leading 
from the back entry. The four brick hearths are yet before the four 
open fire-places. 

Adeline Delaplaine H. was the eldest child of J. H. and C. D. H. 
There is a shopping-bag here done by her, embroidered with beads on 
fine muslin. A half wreath of flowers upon an amber ground. The 
sweet-pea and morning-glory are especially natural. It is as fresh in 
color as when made, about 1830, when bead-work was the rage. She 
made several pieces about that time, several smaller reticules (as they 
were called) one that is here, is party, or opera bag size. The beads 
which are tiny, requiring a fine needle, are all intact. There are here 
also, some specimens of her embroidery, on fine Swiss muslin. One 
piece, an infant's cap, is now used as a sachet-cover. After a brief 
married life, she passed her remaining days here. In her old age, she 
embroidered a number of rugs on burlap, several of which are still 
here. She excelled in baking, her specialty being beaten biscuit. 

She was paralyzed about eight years before her death, but re- 
covered so nearly, that she spent a peaceful and serenely happy old 
age, always busy in a useful way, over what her infirmities allowed 
her to do, or reading and reciting to the bed-ridden sister. Her face, 
framed in its white cap, made a sweet picture. She lived to be 77. 
At twenty-five or thirty, her brown hair was abundant. Part of it was 
coiled into a flat ring on each side of her temples, and fastened with 
shell side-combs. She usually wore a dress brown in color, with a 
shoulder-cape of the same material and a broad collar of white linen. 
"Blue-black" silk was the rage in her day. Hers was of the finest, 
softest quality, and had a polka-dot in satin of the same shade. It 
was made with a long, full-gathered stomacher, and elaborately 
trimmed with narrow strips of the silk, tightly plaited. Her bonnet 
was commonly Leghorn straw, of a form similar to those worn by the 
Shakers, or the Salvation Army women. It was stiffened to buckram, 
ironed to an irreproachable gloss, and ornamented with frill, bows, and 

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strings of ribbon. With this was worn a Paisley, or broche, shawl, 
folded three-cornered. 

For many years of her prime, she enjoyed the privilege of a special 
friend, Eliza Hollingsworth More, who lived alone, in her own house, 
three doors off. Eliza was very deaf, and used to declare laughingly 
that she was glad of it. She was born in Petersburg, Va. ; her mother 
was Miss Hollingsworth. Upon the death of her parents, she came to 
Md., as her father's relatives were here. The sweet expression of her 
blue eyes, her musical voice, her distinct articulation, the elegance of 
her vocabulary, her erect figure, quaintly costumed, made an impres- 
sion upon me quite distinct from that which I received from others. 
One of her costumes was a cloak of salmon-colored Merino, made full- 
gathered to a yoke, and reaching to her feet. With this was worn a 
bonnet of steel-grey satin, Shaker-form and with a small, circular crown. 

She had her father's miniature, painted on ivory. On the reverse> 
was the figure of a woman, seated, wrought with lovely, golden hair, 
her deceased sister's. Among her treasures was a diamond ring, the 
first I ever saw, and my acquaintance with such an article continues 
rare. She M^as never hurried of speech, and one never wished her to 
be. Her reading aloud was preciselj' like her talking, and both were 
to me a source of pure delight. What seemed especially adapted to 
her style, was the passage in "Paradise Lost," beginning: "Now came 
still evening on." All of her household work was done by her own 
hands, (she used to hold them up, spread out her fingers, and assert 
that she had ten servants.) 

Her duties included washing, ironing, baking, cooking, gardening, 
sewing, and her house and premises were ever exqisitely neat. There 
appeared to be nothing that she hesitated to undertake. There was a 
puzzle called The Highlander that one of the H. family once brought 
on her return from the city. It required a variety of material and 
much skill in the making. No time elapsed before Eliza had made sev- 
eral, that she distributed among her acquaintances. A daughter of 
one of her, especial friends performed with rare sweetness, and correct- 
ly, upon the melodeon, a result of Eliza's teaching. She used some- 
times to dance for me, to my unbounded delight. But for this pas seul 
(»f Eliza's, dancing would have been entirely without the pale of my 
limited sphere. She said her mother had her ever begin a new copy- 
book with these lines: 

"Thy credit wary keep; 'tis quickly gone; 
'Tis got in many actions; lost in one." 

She was a high-spirited woman, and it was as good as a play to 
see Eliza angry, but it was rare. She took her creed from Pope's line: 

"Vital spark of heavenly flame," 
and thought that all souls would finally be one with the Eternal. 

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When she became enfeebled by age, she retired to the house of a 
friend, in whose familj^ she was thoroughly appreciated, and passed 
the rest of her days in sweet tranquility. 

Caroline was the second daughter of J. H. and C. D. H. vShe 
married young, before I was born, Charles Hiteshu, who resided in 
the \allage. They say she was a particularly pretty girl, and I well 
believe it, for she was pretty, even in my day. She was named for 
that friend of her mother's that used to come daily to the house. 
There is a set of dinner-plates here, and a large bowl to match, that 
were bought for her wedding. White, with a design of roses and 
carnations in pale blue. C's nose was decidedly retrousse, and her 
hair black and curly. Her eyes were dark and very bright, her ex- 
pression, arch. 

This type of face shows the French blood in the family. It came 
out in the faces of Caroline, Sophia, John and Anne. Caroline was 
very vivacious in her manner, — "fussy" in the kindly sense of the 

term. She won my childish heart completely. "This is , the 

little dear," she would sometimes say in presenting me to her friends, 
with her arm affectionately round me. Her husband w^as one of 
Nature's noblemen. C's family could never talk enough of what a 
gentleman "Charles" was in his house and particularly at his table, 
with the old-time, hearty Maryland politeness. The daguerreotype, 
in the family, taken in his prime, is just like him. It was one of my 
greatest childhood pleasures to visit them in Uniontown, and their 
children were the companions of my young life. 

Their home, built by the father of Charles, was delightfully situ- 
ated at the head of the village, on a very elevated spot, and fronted 
by a well-shaded lawn. I delighted in its fine, wide hall, and its 
farm-like surroundings. Caroline lived to be 68. The only one of 
their sons who reached manhood, was William. When a boy, if he 
was asked what calling he intended to pursue, he ever replied, "a 
peddler." A peddler was a soinebody in those days. "Cheap Jean," 
one of them, came to us regularly. Jean carried fine silks, etc., in 
his bales. I remember a cashmere that Mary Hyder bought of him, 
one dollar per yard, seal brown, with the figure of a crimson rose with 
its dark green leaves. I was u.sually treated to a pair of liliputian silk 
"mitts," frail, but gay in color. 

William became an eminently successful merchant. He was mar- 
ried and conducting a wholesale and retail establishment in Chambers- 
burg, Pa., at the time of his death, 1887, in the prime of his life. He 
was so seriously injured in attempting to check a runaway horse that 
he died in a few days. He had a genius for conducting business on 
a large scale, and was noted for his fair dealing. His demise was re- 
garded as a public calamity. He was one of the most genial persons I 

— 12 — 



ever met. There is in the family, a picture of him, taken when he was 
just entering manhood, that is a perfect likeness. 

Sophia Elizabeth was the third daughter of J. H. and C. D. H. 
vShe was the tallest of the family. I judge about five feet eight, and 
splendidly proportioned, inclining to embonpoint. Her shoulders and 
arms were superb, like alabaster. Her hand was large, but a model 
for a sculptor. The fingers tapering. One's hand is charged with char- 
acter, which no freedom from toil can conceal and no amount of labor 
can wholly obliterate. The hand of Sophia proclaimed her to be that 
most blest of all beings, the cock-sure person. Her hair was black and 
glossy, coiled at the back, with thick curls in front, festooned one 
over the other across her ears and fastened with shell side-combs. 
She had iine white teeth and a good complexion, the red and white 
well blended. Her daguerreotype here, taken in her prime, is very like. 

I have, as I stated a few pages back, a photograph, copied from 
an ancient portrait, of one Nicholas De La Plaine, a dignitary of 
France. The painting represents him an old man; the inscription says, 
one hundred and four. Any one would concede a strong resemblance 
between the photograph of N. D., (16 — ,) and the daguerreotype of S. 
E. H., (18 — .) One of Sophia's costumes was a diaphanous material, 
white with a large polka dot of violet. It was made decollete with a 
shoulder-cape of the same material. Another, was of mulberry color- 
ed merino, the corsage fitted like a glove, and was fastened with glo- 
bular silvered buttons, bullet buttons, they were styled. I see her yet, 
just arrived from church, as I was standing in the street doorway, one 
fine Sunday; a dress of black Satin Turc, (pronounced Ture) a shawl 
of silk with large plaids and a deep fringe. The shawl was worn tri- 
angular. A bonnet of white "horse hair," or Neapolitan, with strings 
and bows of wide orange ribbon. Tied over the bonnet and thrown 
gracefully to one side, was a yard long veil of black silk net, embroid- 
ered with sprigs, and having a deep border of richer and heavier em- 
broidery. 

I thought when I was assisting in shrouding Sophia that she seem- 
ed a form chiseled from the finest marble, by a master artist. She was 
the oracle of the house, the houseband. She was one of the handiest 
women I ever saw, and the best-tempered. Every woman her own 
shoemaker, was the fad for awhile in her day. Sophia made a num- 
ber of pairs out and out. Got lasts, made the uppers, and soled the 
shoes herself. I remember one pair of tan cloth, with tips and heel- 
pieces of black morocco — gaiters, they were called — and laced at the 
side. Sophia used to say that she would rather sew than eat, and no 
wonder, for she created some of the loveliest gowns and bonnets. In 
baking, cooking, preserving, she excelled. The taste of her good 
things will always linger in my memory. The richest marmalades, the 

— 13 — 



clearest jellies. She sent a specimen of citron preserve to the Balti- 
more Fair. It was in a glass jar, the top covered with white paper cut 
in points, which were outlined with gilt. The tie was of blue ribbon. 
The citron, translucent, was cut into various shapes, hands, flowers, 
leaves, hearts, stars, &c., floating in the amber syrup. Self-sealing 
jars were as yet unknown. 

Sophia ever required a lackey at her heels; one could not accom- 
plish all she did, without making chips. She embroidered a large 
shoulder cape on white bobinet with linen floss, in a flower, leaf and 
scroll pattern. It was afterward cut into a fichu, to suit the style of 
the day. Only some scraps remain. Of the several patch-work quilts 
that she made, one is here yet, done when she was a child, of bits not 
more than one inch square and joined with the greatest exactness. 
Sophia had a life-long friend. Miss McMurray, of Baltimore, who 
married Mr. Delinger, and at his death, Mr. Holden. She, Miss McM., 
was a noted beauty, as will be seen from her daguerreotype here. 
There is a looped-back crimson curtain for a back-ground. The dress 
is of black velvet cut V-shape at the throat, and with elbow-sleeves 
edged with white lace. A lace veil is thrown over her head and falls 
around her shoulders. She sits with her exquisitely-formed hands 
loosely clasping a lace handkerchief in her lap. Some of her letters 
are here yet, written from her various places of residence or sojourn, 
Baltimore, Md., Portland, Maine, Cincinnati, O., New Orleans, La. 

Some of the letters are without envelopes, sealed with wafer or 
wax, and ten cents postage. The letter from Portland says their 
house had rose-wood balusters. Sophia had one offer of marriage that 
I know of. A physician, in good practice, and of distinguished 
family. But he was a widower, and his numerous children had been 
rearing themselves under a system as fortuitous as that of the Jellabys. 
C. D. H. shrank from having her daughter subjected to such an 
ordeal, and Sophia dutifully yielded. There are friendly letters here to 
her from another gentleman. He with quite a number of other young 
men, some from adjacent States, was in the village, availing himself 
of the superior advantages that the Academy here at that time offered. 
He was very handsome and a fine young man. Sophia died of heart 
disease and asthma, at the age of sixty-eight. Sweet, gentle spirit ! 

Mary Carmack was the fourth daughter of J. H. and C. D. H. 
There is a framed photograph of her here, taken when she was about 
twenty-five, but the faithful likeness of herself, a dagueiTeotype, she 
sent to Judge N. Norris Delaplaine, her first cousin, of Hillsboro, O. 
It showed well her fine, dark eyes. Her hair curled naturally, lovely 
long, thick brown curls, on either side of her rarely intellectual face. 
Her nose was beautiful, slightly retrousse, her brow, low and broad, 
her eyebrows finely arched, her complexion, dark, but clear. She had 

— 14 — 



a perfect foot, the instep, arched, that, as the Spanish say, water would 
flow under. When I saw the silver statuette of Nevada, at the Chicago 
Exposition, 1893 (for which Ada Rehan posed) I said, this is the foot of 
Mary Hyder. 

One day, among other callers at the house, was a gentleman from 
Ohio, a stranger. He was seated near the open parlor door leading to 
the entry. As Mary was about to descend the stairway, her foot 
slipped, and she slid from the top to the bottom. She laughed it off, 
telling the gentleman that was the way Maryland ladies got down 
stairs. She wore at the time, black slippers, crossed over the instep 
with black ribbon, showing her white lace stockings, according to the 
style of the daj^ Her hand was plump and well-formed. She always 
wore the best (Jouvin) kid gloves, generally light tan color, some- 
times white. She was medium height and inclining to embonpoint. 
She was particularly fond of dress, and always contrived to have sev- 
eral gowns of silk. One costume was a black Satut Tiirc (pronounced 
Ture) and a cape of mauve cloth, formed of three small capes, with 
pinked edges. A bonnet of black velvet and satin, with strings of 
wide black ribbon edged with scarlet and tied in an ample bow under 
her chin. A scarf, or muffler, of scarlet cashmere with fringed ends. 
Tan kid gloves. Mary was very fond of reading and especially fond of 
poetry. She wrote sketches for the country papers, sometimes under 
the signature of Flora. Some of these are presei-ved. Many specimens 
of her fine penmanship remain. When I was a child she took great 
pains to have me read and recite properly some of her favorite poems. 
She read and recited beautifully herself. Among her favorites were, 
"The Sunbeam" and "The Bended Bow" by Mrs. Hemans, "The 
Admission of Michigan, " "Napoleon," and "Benevolence" by Mrs. 
Sigourney, and "Washington" by Eliza Cook. Her copy of Shakes- 
peare was well-thumbed. At one time a colporteur who was passing 
through the village and had Shakespeare's plays in his stock, was told 
that the main person here, interested in such things was M. Hyder. 
When the man called, Mary was busy "doing up" some of her precious 
finery. Her cousin. Miss Delaplaine, of Virginia, was visiting her at 
the time, and laughed at the idea of the main Shakesperean reader 
here, being found at the wash-tub. 

Mary embroidered beautifully on Swiss muslin. Some of this 
work remains. She also did much work in wools. There are two pieces 
of her tapestry here, framed, that were done in the early fifties, and 
are almost as fresh in color as when made. The remains of a card- 
basket that was very pretty, are still preserved. It was made of pieces 
of perforated card-board (Bristol-board) octagon in shape, bound on 
the edges with gilt paper, and tied with green chenille. On each octa- 
gon was worked a floral design in very fine worsted and silk. Each 

— 15 — 



flower was as natural-looking as if painted. I remember among- others, 
the purple columbine and the snow-drop. She pieced a number of 
handsome bed-quilts, as did other members of the famih\ One had 
for center a large star, (pieced of lozenge-shaped bits of red oiled- 
calico) on a white ground. In the corners, were four white squares 
having for center each, a bouquet cut out of furniture-calico, and sew- 
ed on. Another was made of bits of all-wool goods. Two diamond- 
shaped pieces of bright color and one black piece were basted over stiff 
paper. When the three were joined, the whole looked like a cube, 
and the quilt, on the bed, (the black all running one way) looked like 
a stairs of cubes. When the work was finished, the paper was pulled 
out. Mary's plain sewing on underwear, of which some specimens 
remain, was a marvel of beauty. 

She was talkative and witty, had many gentlemen callers, and the 
faster she talked, the more swiftly her needle flew. She had a number 
of persistent suitors. Any one of them, from a worldly point of view, 
would have been considered a good match, and yet she remained un- 
married. She used to declare she tired of them after a while. One of 
them became a succes.sful man of business in the South. He traveled 
for awhile. There are letters here of his from London, England, from 
Nassau, New Providence Isle, and an envelope of the Stars and Bars 
of the Southern Confederacy. One of her suitors was a physician who 
went to practice in California, and died there. One, a merchant of 
Baltimore. One, a farmer of Frederick County, Md. 

Mary was a great lover of flowers and remarkably successful in 
cultivating them. She never went abroad in season that she did not 
bring back a new variety or two. (The clove pink and thyme were 
special favorites of SophiaJ) There are now in the garden, sprouts of 
the Provence, or hundred-leaf rose, that C. D. H. brought from her 
father's home in 1811. Some of the petals were dried each year, and 
placed among the household linen, or used for Sipot pourri. The per- 
fume is said to resemble that of the famous attar of roses. The English 
Daisy was my favorite in M.'s garden. A bloom like the dandelion, 
but a size smaller, of a fine rose color, on stalks three or four inches 
high, and with root leaves only. English violets, white and violet^ 
dotted the grass in season. The English, is the only /ra^rawi? variety. 
Violets were interspersed with the bloom of the Vinca, or periwinkle, 
familiarly called ground-myrtle. Among the other flowers that she 
grew in the garden or yard here, at different periods, were. Mock 
orange-blossom, Guelder-rose (or "snowball"), Carolina Shrub, Lilac, 
Wygela, varieties of honey-suckle, including the coral, china Trumpet, 
Box, (bush and tree), varieties of the Rose, including the Moss, 
Sweet-pea, Columbine, Canterbury Bell, Mourning Bride, Globe 
Amaranth, Fox-glove, Tiger-J/owcr, varieties of Lilies, including the 

— 16 — 



Tiger, Heliotrope, Verbena, Salvia, Sweet- Alyssum, Mignonette, &c. 
She was specially fond of Spring flowers, and had Snow-drop, Hyacinth, 
Narcissus, Jonquil, Daffodil, Bleeding-Heart, &c. 

The lot on which the house was built, was nearly one acre, ad- 
mitting a good-sized yard on three sides, and in the rear a vegetable 
garden. (I must not omit the grandiflora Larkspur, the sky-blue 
Ragged Robin and the Tuberose, for the three were held in special 
favor.) She took a belated Tuberose in, one autumn, and it opened 
at Christmas. I never saw more profuse and perfect bloom. 

Mary's vegetable garden was among the finest and earliest in the 
village. She and Mr. R., a friend of the family, were rivals for the 
first early potatoes. In cookery, she excelled in making Sweet-cake, 
Flannel-cakes, Beaten Biscuit and Mince-meat. Her last work, before 
the illness that resulted in her death, was beaten-biscuit, sent to an 
Oyster-Supper for a charitable purpose. 

There are numerous flowers that she grew that I have not men- 
tioned. One, the Rose Acacia, a small shrub, with a bloom like our 
common Locust tree, but three or four sizes larger, and of a fine rose 
color. Another shrub was the common Corchorus, or Japan Globe- 
Flower. The plant died after her death. I procured another, for the 
reason that the leaf is the most exquisitely formed of any that I know. 
It resembles the leaf of the Acanthus, which was used as a model in 
Greek architecture, but the plants are quite different in appearance, 
and do not belong to the same family. 

I did not say, while speaking of Mrs. Hemans, the poet, that I saw 
recently that she was descended, through her mother, from a Doge of 
Venice. How this would have interested Mary ! Mrs. Hemans' poem, 
"The Sunbeam," holds a place among the finest, and yet Byron 
damns her with faint praise. 

Mary was very social in her nature, and delighted in games of all 
kinds. Nothing pleased her better than to have a merry gathering of 
young people, engaged in games that exercised their wits. She taught 
me, as a child, to make "enigmas," and had one or two of my pro- 
ductions inserted in the county paper, to my unbounded delight. She 
was the means of getting more than one promising young man of this 
neighborhood, in a position where he could exercise his talents, and 
who rose to success in life. They had for her ever a feeling of pro- 
found gratitude. 

One of her costumes was a Basque of black net, striped with nar- 
row velvet ribbon, and bordered with deep lace. This was worn over 
a black silk waist made decollete and with short sleeves. Flowing 
sleeves were much in vogue in her day. With these she sometimes 
wore an undersleeve of tulle, white, with two great puffs made by 
elastic cord and finished at the wrist by a bow of blossom-colored rib- 

— 17 — 



bon. Mary's face was much like her father's, and j^et she also strik- 
ingly resembled her first cousin, Sarah CaiTnack, who was of the 
Delaplaine side. [I like to think of the Delaplaines being from 
Provence, because of Eugenie De Guerin and her Journal, and be- 
cause of the writings of Pierre Loti— (M. Viaud), notably '' Matelot,'' — 
about that region.] 

Mary Hyder died 1890, aged si.x;ty-eight. For more than three 
years before her death, she was bed-ridden and almost entirely help- 
less, from a spinal affection, and nearly blind, from rheumatism of the 
eyes. She could raise her head but a little way from the pillow, and 
had to be fed like a child. This seems a gloomy picture, and yet I 
aver that until about three weeks before her death, she seemed to 
enjoy life, although at times, suffering greatly, — ami around her was 
a little heaven. It was my blessed privilege to be her nurse. A colored 
man came daily, and she was lifted to an arm-chair, for a change, and 
her back was bathed. Her mental faculties were unimpaired and her 
digestion good. Her sick-room was on the first floor. She was visited, 
she was made much of. Fine readers would sometimes come and read 
to her, her favorite poems, and other selections and she kept pace 
with the news of the day. 

The late Bishop Nicholson, of Milwaukee, formerly rector of As- 
cension Church, Westminster, Md., said of Mary Hyder, that she had 
a grand face. 

Anne, the sister of Mary, resided in Baltimore. The most su- 
perior and elevating recreations that the city offered, were patronized 
by Anne and her husband, in the days of their prosperity, and they 
vied with each other in their efforts to give their guests pleasure. 
Mary gloried in the number of times she had seen the immortal 
Charlotte Cushman, in Shakespeare's plays, &c., in the amount of 
fun she extracted from the performance of J. E. Owens, the comedian, 
in the numbers of fane readings, lectures, sermons, she had listened 
to. Her course of reading in an obscure village had made her ripe 
for all this. Her face beaming with intelligence and vivacity, her 
body decked with the costumes of Sophia's handy needle, — she shone ! 
S. used to make for her, the lovehest bonnets, — of black lace, 
trimmed with red roses. Mary and Sophia had each a costume of 
de beige (pronounced baije, it means, the natural color of the wool.) 
A fine, soft, neutral-tinted all wool goods. It was made up with a 
mantilla, trimmed with rich gimp, two inches wide, and edged with 
corded fringe. At that period, a mantilla was called a Visite, (pro- 
nounced vezeet.) 

One of Mary's silks was a sage color, alternate inch- wide satin 
stripe, and stripe of flowering vine, all sage color. It was made with 
tight sleeves, the corsage (waist) buttoned in the back. There was a 

— 18 — 



long, pointed, full-plaited "stomacher." Sometimes these were made 
■separate, and tightly laced on with silk cord and tassels. Always 
there was the busc, of wood or of horn, slipped inside the corsage. We 
now have the corset-steel. Another silk was "changeable," blue and 
gold. A scarf of the same, (2^ yds. xj^ yd.) Another was a China 
silk, in tiny checks, also "changeable," Vestive a.n& Taupe. Vesuve is 
flame color and taupe is mole color. She wore much barege (pronounc- 
ed baraije) a diaphanous, all-wool goods, then very modish. One was 
violet color, with a large pansy in white. One rose-color, with small 
vines in white, another a white ground, nearly covered with a medley 
of all colors in a small flower pattern. Another, brown, with flounces 
edged with silver colored satin. One, dimity, pale green, was dotted 
with strawberries. This last, I do not remember, except by some 
scraps of the goods in a patch-work quilt. Mantillas or Visites, she 
wore much: A cape reaching to the waist, with very long, rounded 
ends. They were generally of black silk with two or three pinked 
ruffles. 

Every lady then must have her Scrap Book. There are four in 
the house. Mary had two. One is a folio, 27 in.xlS, — she had it 
made in Fredericktown, Md. It contains many fine engravings and 
much reading matter. It was exhibited at the county Fair, Westminster, 
as was one of her tapestries, which took a premium. The folio Scrap 
Book was made in the early fifties, the smaller ones, much earlier. 
Every other leaf of the folio was taken out blank. A smooth flour 
paste was used. The damp page was ironed to a gloss, over blank 
paper. [Speaking of Mrs. Hemans, the poet, — Walter Scott, in his 
Journal, comments on her beauty and youthful appearance, and adds, 
"and she tells me she is the mother of several children."] 

I remember of Mary's a fan of carved sandal-wood, and one of 
carved ivory and white feathers. Painted on the feathers, at the edge, 
was a row of tiny pink rcses, the whole \vith a finish of swan's-down. It 
was a folding fan. A port-monnaie of chased silver, encircling her 
name, and lined with rose-colored silk. A bracelet of gold, beaten to 
imitate seed-pearls, another, of hair-work, with a heavy clasp of gold. 
A long, slender gold chain, to be worn round the neck, with a slide of 
blue enamel, a gold-pencil, with a head-setting of topaz, an open-face 
gold watch, the back with a landscape, carved, — the gold-colored dial, 
having inside or within the Roman hours, a smaller landscape. A 
third bracelet, called amulet, dusky beads, quaintly carved and strung 
on elastic cord. The beads were the size of a Malaga grape. As a 
pendant was a dusky Greek cross, carved. The whole emitted an 
exquisite perfume. Cuflf-pins, gold, enameled. Gold studs, for her 
chemisettes, that she embroidered on Swiss muslin. A stick-pin with 
a ruby setting, and one with a topaz, surrounded with seed-pearls. 

— 19 - 



The following is from an article written by Mary Carmack Hyder, 
daughter of John and Catharine Delaplaine Hyder, for the Westmin- 
ster, Md., Carrolltonian , of Oct. 20, 1854. — "I have often wondered 
why the death of the poet Moore excited so little attention in the lit- 
erary world. No name in English literature has been more widely 
known than that of the author of 'Lallah Rookh.' He was not only 
a poet of the first-class, but he was a writer on Religions, a novelist 
and a biographer. Lallah Rookh is conceded to be a perfect oriental 
poem, that does not contain anything incongruous in its descriptions of 
Eastern life. There is a richness, a luxuriance, in that poem, which 
renders it precious to those who love to connect thoughts of mysterj'^ 
and magnificence with the Orient. And what a world of beauty, what 
an Elysium of melody, what a vista of all that is lovely, is presented 
to the eye of Fancy, at the mere mention of the words, 'Moore's 
Irish Melodies.' " 

"O, glorious Tom Moore, no wonder that Byron loved you so. No 
wonder that for so many years, you trod the gorgeous carpets of the 
high-born and refined, without a rival and beyond compare, the lord 
of the marriage of Poetry to Music. Alas! that splendid temple where- 
in such children as thine were conceived and born for all time, that 
'palace of the soul,' is down in the dust, forever. The spirit that 
seemed born of the sunlight, the spirit that flashed wit, love and me- 
lodious fancies, from one end of the earth to the other, though it has 
left us the priceless legacy of its immortal offspring, has left us sad, 
because it has gone, and we shall know of it no more, until we follow 
on, and o'ertake it beyond the dark borders of the grave. How in- 
stantly when the intelligence of his death came to us across the waves, 
rushed to mind his own exquisite song, 'The Harp that once through 
Tara's halls.' We all felt affection for Moore, for, from our youth he 
sang to us like some heavenly bird, sent by a kind angel, to cheer the 
soul when deserted by the smiles of Fortune and oppressed by woes 
and cares. Moore's last year, like those of Southey, were passed in 
mental night. It was a melancholy close to a brilliant career. It is 
said that although he knew personally almost every person of distinc- 
tion in England, neither his death nor his funeral was marked by the 
attendance of any notable. Every one remembers what Moore him- 
self said about the neglect experienced by Sheridan in his last days. 
He was, by anticipation, describing what was to be his own fate. 
Shakespeare wrote truly, alas, when he said, 
'Prosperity, the very bond of love, 
Whose fresh complexion and whose heart together 
Affliction alters.' " 
Anne Lucinda was the youngest daughter of J. H. and C. D. H., 
and the acknowledged beauty of the family. Her artlessness added to 

— 20 — 



her charm. Her hair was black and would do nothing- bufcnv\. It was 
not long, but abundant, the curls all around her head and scarce reach- 
ing her shoulders. Her no.se was Grecian, her teeth, small and pearly, 
her complexion, good. She had a turn for drawing, but I think none 
of her work remains. She marked on linen beautifully, with indelible 
ink. The name, encircled with a wreath of roses with their leaves, 
and doves hovering round. I think one piece marked by her, remains. 
After she married and went to Baltimore to reside, members of her 
family here passed many happy days in that city, at various times, as 
her visitors. [I have referred to this, when speaking of Mary, a few 
pages back.] As a guest of Anne and her husband, I heard Charles 
Dickens read from his works. The fresh complexioned English gentle- 
man, the immortal, whom I almost expected to see metamorphosed into 
Tony Welier, as I heard the wheezy, "Put it down with a we, Samivel. 
put it down with a we." Anne had a special friend, Helen Jo.sephine 
Swope, of Taneytown, Md. She became a Sister of Charity. [Anne 
married when I was a very small child.] I remember her taking me 
with her in Baltimore when she went to see this Sister, and how en- 
thused I became over the white bonnet. They had not been intro- 
duced from France very long. The Sisters here had been wearing a 
small black bonnet. I always wished there might be Sisters in the 
Stage going through Uniontown to St. Joseph's, Emmitsburg, so that 
I could see them in those bonnets. The pretty faces look prettier in 
them, and the plain ones, pretty. 

Anne lived to be seventy-six, and although she passed through al- 
most crushing sorrow, she retained much of her beauty and many of 
her curls to the last. In her old age she wore her hair, which was but 
sparsely streaked with grey, coiled at the back and a cluster of curls 
on either side of her temples. Her beauty, as her husband said, was 
of the spirituelle type, which neither withers nor coarsens. Being in 
her usual health, ex:;epting a cold, she fell unconscious one morning 
after rising and expired almost immediately. Anne, like Sophia, was 
not only good, but pious. A member of the family, still living, re- 
marked, and with truth, that in their relation of marriage, Anne and 
her husband were a model couple. 

Anne, like Mary, did much work in wools; some remains, among 
other pieces, a pair of ottoman covers, in tufted work. She worked 
with wools, rich cluster of flowers on a basket of fine willow and artis- 
tic form, it was lined with lemon-colored satin, the edges finished with 
a blossom colored cord, with two pendent rings, covered in button-hole 
stitch with the same color. Mary worked a pair of slippers on blue 
cloth, with silk and fine wool, over very close canvas, and when done, 
the threads were drawn out. A rich bouquet for the front and a spray 
for the heel. Sophia soled them. 

— 21 — 



Anne had two sons. The younger, as an infant, had a face perfect 
in feature and almost divine in expression. One thought it a fit type for 
the child in a Madonna picture. In early boyhood, he was kicked on 
the head by a horse. The years of his sad life were but nineteen. 

There are many photographs here of Anne's eldest son, taken at 
various periods of his brief life and which give a correct idea of his 
manly beauty. When, late in life, I read "Vanity Fair/' I instantly 
thought of Anne, when I came to Amelia and her labors of love for 
Georgy. What exquisite child-dresses Anne contrived for her first- 
born, by her combined sense of the artistic and her mother-love. I 
remember one of .scarlet China crape, and another of water-melon pink 
fine wool, trimmed with white silk cord. She used to tell with pride 
that one day her pastor, seeing the child for the fir.st time, exclaimed, 
"Well that is a perfect specimen of humanity !" From the very be- 
ginning, this son seemed to love the true and the beautiful. He had 
exalted ideals which he strove to express by his life. He played the 
violin well, and sang with expression. He seemed to have an intuitive 
perception of what was truly fine in music, art and literature. His 
school life was brief, owing to pecuniary reverses in the family. He 
became a merchant's clerk when yet a boy and subsequently clerk in a 
Book-store. He scrupulously performed the duties demanded by these 
positions yet so industrious was he, so indefatigable, that as a mere 
boy he contributed articles on various questions of the day to some of 
the journals of his community. Much of his writing and his Mss. are 
carefully preserved in the family, and a handsome blank-book, special- 
ly bound for the purpose, and with gilt lettering, "Writings of S. H. 
J." In this he pasted many of his contributions that he had clipped 
from the journals. His ms. includes some plays that he wrote when a 
child and that show promise. He contemplated giving his whole at- 
tention to journalism, and was under contract to write a series of ar- 
ticles for the newspaper, "Public Opinion" Chambersburg, Pa., and 
had started and issued the first copies of a little paper of his own, 
called "The Bell," when death from typhoid fever cut him off at the 
age of twenty-three, in Chambersburg, Pa. There is here, carefully 
preserved, a beautiful obituary of him, written by one of his Cham- 
bersburg comrades. In his hours of recreation, he was overflowing 
with animal spirits, a merry, frolicsome youth. He passed away in the 
open daylight of his life; no chill evening froze the genial current of 
his soul. Copies of his little journal, "The Bell," are preserved. 

When I began these reminiscences, I resolved to take for my motto 
that of the old Venetian sun-dial: "I count only the hours that are 
serene," but I shall refer briefly to some that were otherv/ise. 

The eldest son and second child of John and C. Delaplaine Hyder 
was a beautiful, promising boy, but a severe attack of measles rendered 

— 22 — 



him leeble-minded. He lived and died quietly, but amid the shadows. 

In the "Boolv of Pearls" here, that belonged to Mary Hyder, is a 
picture of Lord Byron. It strikingly resembles the second son and 
youngest child of J. and C. Delaplaine Hyder, as I remember him. 
His black hair was like Anne's, it would do nothing but curl. He was 
a bright, studious youth. He was nearly six feet in height and of 
splendid physique. His manuscripts here, of Mathematics and Geom- 
etry, show his neat work, his clever drawing, &c. There are also 
books here of his original "compositions," as a boy. He learned 
much, off-hours, from, his father, and the Academy' of the village was 
at that time, in the hands of a first-class teacher. Many young men 
outside of the community and even from the adjacent States, board- 
ed in the village in order to avail themselves of the superior educa- 
tional advantages that this place then offered. This son went to 
Gettysburg, Pa., to learn the trade of a printer. There, alas, he con- 
tracted the drink habit. It cut him off at twenty-six. He was popu- 
lar and had many warm friends among the most intelligent and influ- 
ential men of the community. Some of their letters to him remain. 
Like Mary, he was a frequent contributor to the county papers, gen- 
erally under the name of Hyder Ali (pronounced Heeder Awl-ee). 
He also declaimed well, especially passages from Byron. He traveled 
as far as Texas and Mexico. His mother received letters from perfect 
strangers there, during that time, relating how they were charmed 
with his personality and thrilled by the beauty of his poetical recitals, 
and how they tenderly cared for him in his hours of weakness. In his 
day, gentlemen wore, instead of overcoats, cloaks. They were of 
cloth, lined with flannel of some bright color. They were full-gath- , 
ered to a narrow yoke and reached the ankles. They were fastened 
at the throat by a metal clasp and a long, heavy cord finished with 
rich tassels. The cloak of John Franklin H.. was heavy blue cloth, 
lined with flannel of a gay plaid. In it, he looked princely. Some 
were lined with scarlet. 

C. Delaplaine Hyder, when I remember her, wore her dresses of 
a uniform pattern. They were double-breasted, with a quite wide 
rolling collar, which left them open at the throat. Inside, she wore a 
handkerchief of fine muslin, white, folded three-cornered, and crossed 
over her breast. The sleeve was leg o' mutton. I cannot remember 
her when her hair was not sparse and grey. As a child, it used to 
entertain me to watch her at her toilette. Her own hair was combed 
stright back and coiled into a small knot. Then came the false 
"front," a braid of natural hair of a beautiful auburn. Midway it was 
glued to a foundation of silk and a straight line simulated the parting 
in a natural head of hair. Strings were attached to tie the braid on 
the head. Each half was brought carefully over the temples in 

— 23 — 



"tubers," the ends tucked behind the ears. Over the back part of her 
head she then drew a cap of black silk with a removable "wash" 
lining of thin white muslin. Lastly, the outer cap of dotted Swiss 
muslin, made \vith a full, high crown and a wide border. The border 
was of plain Swiss, sewed on without any fullness at the top but 
gathered at the sides. When the cap was laundered, she would 
crimp the fullness at the sides very fine with a tiny-blade pen-knife 
which she kept in the miniature band-box in her work-basket for that 
purpose. Strings of wide ribbon. 

C. D. H. had her day when the world was brand-new to me and 
each hour held out sweet surprises. I was ever at her heels. I watched 
the annual or semi-annual soap-making. The ashes, mostly of 
hickory wood, placed in a great V-shaped vessel and kept damp. 
There was a smaller vessel beneath to catch the drip. The soap when 
boiled was placed in deep vessels to cool. The cutting it into bars was 
a crucial moment. Anything less than "soap to the bottom," was 
held in high disdain. 

I watched the weekly brush-wood fire crackling in the huge stone 
oven, just outside the kitchen, the dragging forth with a soaking wet 
long-handled mop, of the beautiful, glowing coals, the shoving in, on 
the broad-palmed, far-reaching oven-peel, of the immense loaves. 

I always had a "finger" in the pie making. The kind, as a staple, 
was dried-apples. The supply of that commodity seemed inexhausti- 
ble. Crimping the pie was to me the special feature. Setting the tip 
of the left-hand little finger against the plate edge, and pinching the 
dough with the left-hand thumb and fore-finger, or else, turning the 
dough over, dog-ear fashion, and adding further ornament by means 
of a door-key. I was provided with a half- moon pie to practice on. 

Then, the candle-moulding. The tin moulds are on the garret 
yet. Threading the moulds with ^vick, tying the upper ends over a 
slender stick, pouring in the melted tallow. This last, would seem to 
me to-day, rather a repulsive task. I watched it then with the great- 
est complacency. The hum of C. D. H.'s small wheel, as I sat at her 
feet, was music to my ears. The wheel was even in that day dark and 
glossy with age. I can hear the click of her knitting-needles. She 
always used a sheath, pinned against her left side, to steady the main 
needle. Some were of black velvet, cut butterfly shape, and orna- 
mented, with bright-colored silk floss, after nature. Through the hol- 
low body was thrust a quill or tin tube, to hold the end of the needle. 
I sent to some younger members of the family, part of a white lamb's- 
wool stocking, to show the fineness and precision of her work. She 
knitted two pairs of finest lamb's-wool, one pair of white and one of 
dark grey, on very small needles, for the Industrial Fair, Baltimore, 
Md. She won a premium for both. For one pair, an exquisite little 

— 24 — 



silver tea-strainer and for the other, a silver fruit-knife. They are yet 
preserved. The old carding- machines are on the garret yet. Happy 
the da}' to me when a bed-comfort needed renovating. The cotton- 
wool, which had become matted and heavy by washing and wear, was 
deftly carded, bits at a time, and the layers, flaky as if just from the 
boll, were piled loosely in an immense basket. The machines are like 
two curry-combs, one for each hand. A bit of the matted cotton was 
laid between and combed, this way and that, to make it fluffy. 

We often and often, had a bed-quilt "in." It was to me like a 
voyage to a strange country to see the prim furniture of the living 
room unceremoniously pushed out of its accustomed place, that place 
which, excepting at such times, it held as tenaciously as a soldier on 
drill. The room, of moderate dimensions, was for the time being, 
transformed in my eyes, into a vast domain, divided into numerous 
quaint nooks, one as charming as the other, and into each I retreated 
by turns, with my doll, my book, or my patch-work, sometimes with 
nothing but my own thoughts, listening while the momentous question 
of what design should be quilted in, was under discussion. Should it 
be feathers, diamonds, or waves ? To mark it off, a lead-pencil served 
for the white squares, but for the colored squares they had recourse to 
a cord dipped in weak starch and held taut over the piece, then snap- 
ped. To be called upon for the performance of this last, was my 
crowning joy. The day that I was five years old, we had a quilt in. 
It was early in February, but such delightful weather that the outer, 
as well as inner doors stood wide open. Delicious sunshine flooded the 
front entry. 

The spectacles of C. D. H. are here j'et, German silver, now yel- 
low, the glasses, round. The frames, by a slide, could be doubled half 
their length for folding. Parasols, too, had a hinge midway in the 
stick, with a sliding cylinder of brass, to stay it when not doubled. 
Mary Hyder's was apple-green silk, fringed. On the garret, is a child's 
parasol, (hinged stick) size of breakfast-plate, of striped silk, mauve 
and pale rose, with pinked edges, also a tiny muff, knitted. A band of 
black, figured with orange, and bordered on either side with a band of 
bright green, edged with white, tufted wool, to simulate swansdown, 
and lined with white silk. 

Loaf sugar, now bought in small cubes, came them, in conical 
blocks, one foot high, wrapped in slate-colored paper. Silver sugar- 
tongs, marked H., are yet preserved. 

Things were a "leven-pence," or a "fip and a bit" a yard, or a 
pound. To pay, were small silver coins. The "levy" was twelve and 
a half cents, or one-eighth of a dollar. The "fip" was six and a quar- 
ter cents, or one sixteenth of a dollar, ["leven pence" means eleven 
pence, and "fip and a bit" means five pence and a bit.] 

— 25 — 



I do not know the order of the family record of John Delaplaine 
and Sophia Sheelar D., his wife, but here are the names:— 1, Jacob; 
2, Joseph; 3, Daniel; 4, Joshua; 5, WilUam; 6, Frederick; 7, Jeremiah; 
8, John; 9, Elizabeth; 10, Catharine; 11, Margaret; 12, Hannah; 13, 
Mary; 14, Maxy," 

John died in infancy; so did Hannah, and the first Mary. Eliza- 
beth was the oldest daughter. She married Mr. Beale. The second 
Mary was called Polly and married John Carmack. [This history treats 
specially of Catharine and her children, and she married, as I have 
said, John Hyder.] 

Jacob Delaplaine, brother of C. D. Hyder, married his first cousin, 
Catharine Miller. They hved and died at Kinsley Mills, near Buck- 
land, Prince William county, Virginia. Their burial-lot was in their 
garden. There are old letters here from different members of the 
family, and a photograph of Jacob, one of the sons. Mary, the oldest 
daughter, visited here in the fifties. She arrived on one of the coldest 
and most snowy of winter days. At first sight, I thought her one of 
the plainest women I ever set my eyes upon, but when she donned a 
becoming gown and began to talk, I changed my mind completely. 
Some of the family said her face had the Dutchcontour of the Millers'. 
Be that as it may, the French shone out, too. She had sparkling black 
eyes and wore her black hair in a cluster of curls on either side of her 
face. 

She was tall, inclining to enbonpoint, and had a fine, healthy 
complexion, and perfect teeth. These last were almost constantly in 
evidence, for she was not only talkative but merry, one of the most 
agreeable women I ever met. The gown that suited her style best was 
a wine-colored reps, trimmed with velvet a shade darker. Her best 
bonnet was white, then very much the mode, of uncut velvet, and 
adorned with white feathers. She was handy with the needle, and 
while here, remodeled some of her dresses to suit the Maryland styles. 
She also made a double wrapper for Sophia, broad striped, dark crim- 
son, lined with large plaid buff goods. Sophia, as you have seen, was 
not much given to lounging. The wrapper was folded away for many 
years. In her last sickness, it was got out, and she died in it. Mary 
D. could keep pace with her aunt Hyder in knitting. How the needles 
flashed ! She was at a pair of stockings, of fine, indigo wool, for her 
little nephew, Jakie. 

The winter she was here, the sleighing was ideal. Horses had to 
be rough-shod, the roads were hard and smooth. Billy Hiteshu took 
her several sleigh-rides, in her red dress and white bonnet; one, three 
miles, to "Trevanion, " the show country-seat of the neighborhood. 
She was invited out to many teas. The teas were in reality, good, 
bountiful suppers. One of the best was at Mr. R's, a widower-beau 

— 26 — 



ol' this village, whose house, from the color of its bricks, she named 
the calomel and jalap house. 

Her brother, Daniel, was at that time Flour-inspector in Rich- 
mond, Va. There was a numerous family. Several of the brothers 
settled at Circleville, Ohio. Tom was the miller at Kinsley. His wife 
was named Mildred. I heard that name for the first time when she 
was spoken of, and 1 remember how it caught my childish fancy. 

Delaplane Station, Fauquier Co., Va., takes it name from some 
members of this Kinsley Mills family who settled there. A Miss D. of 
that place married H. S. Ashby, a near relative of Gen. Turner Ash- 
by, C. S. A. Of the original Kinsley family, Lossie married Mr. 
Glascock. I am told her son is a Hopkins graduate, and a good Ger- 
man scholar. Julia was considered a beauty. Maggie was at Staun- 
ton, Va., at school when her sister Mary was here. 

During the Civil War, the Kinsley family sympathized with the 
North. Jacob, one of the sons, in a letter that is still here, speaks of 
going during the War from Circleville, Ohio, to see his folks at 
Kinsley, Va., and said that their cries of .surprise and joy would be 
ever remembered by him. Travel along certain lines was then a diffi- 
cult and risky business. He says, in one of his letters: "In one re- 
spect I am long for this life, as I am over six feet tall." Upon the 
death of Jacob, the father, the family regretted that they had no 
portait of him. They procured pictiires of all his sisters and brothers 
that were then living and told the artist which features of each re- 
sembled their father's, and where the expression was like his. The 
portrait made, was, I heard, to some degree, satisfactory. His sister, 
C. D. Hyder, sent her picture on. 

Daniel, brother of C. D. Hyder, married the first time, Sophia 
Dern. I visited Haugh's [Hawk] church grave-yard near Middle- 
burg, Carroll Co., Md., in 1896, and saw this inscription on a tomb: 
"Sophia, wife of Daniel Delaplaine, and daughter of Frederick and 
Sophia Dern, died July 28, 1804." They had sons, Frederick, who 
died, unmarried, in Wheeling, Va., and John, who became rector of 
St. Thomas Episcopal church, Hancock, Md., and married Miss 
Breathed. There is a memorial window to his honor, in that church. 
[I saw in Baltimore Sun, that John Hays Hammond, the wealthy 
mining expert, was married in that church, in 1881, to Miss Harris, 
who was visiting the famih' of Dr. Delaplaine, Hancock, at the time 
of her marriage.] [I have a picture of the church. It was .sent to 
me by my friend and correspondent, (Mrs.) Isabel S. Ma.son, Clear- 
spring, Md., author of "Songs By The Way," and a contributor to 
LippincoWs and other periodicals.] 

The second wife of Daniel Delaplaine, brother of C. D. Hyder, 
was Catharine Norris, whose ancestors gave name to Norristown, Pa. 

— 27 — 



She died in 1875, at the residence of her son, Judge N. N. Delaplaine, 
near Hillsboro, Ohio, aged 93. A son of Daniel and his second wife, 
came here to visit about 1870, Joshua, of Hamilton, Ohio. One of his 
daughters, Jane, became the -wife of Judge Wilson, and resides at 
Edina, Missouri. Her grandson, Vernon Armstrong, is a music com- 
poser of New York city. I have a Magazine of Poetry containing 
several of Jane's poems and her picture. She also sent me a booklet 
of hers, "Lady Judith's Vision." Her poems were published in book 
form. She used to contribute short stories to McClure's Magazine . 

HIS MOTHER'S SONGS. 



By Jane Delaplaine Wilson, grand-niece of C. D. Hyder. 

Beneath the hot mid-summer sun 
The men had marched all day, 
And now beside a rippling stream 
Upon the grass they lay. 

Tiring of games and idle jests, 

As swept the hours along. 

They called to one who mused apart, 

"Come friend, give us a song." 

He answered, "Nay, I cannot please; 
The only songs I know 
Are those my mother used to sing 
At home, long years ago." 

"Sing one of those," a rough voice cried, 
"We all are true men here, 
And to each mother's son of us 
A mother's songs are dear." 

Then sweetly sang the strong, clear voice 

Amid unwonted calm; 

"Am I a soldier of the cross, 

A follower of the Lamb." 

The trees hushed all their whispering leaves, 
The very stream was stilled, 
And hearts that never throbbed with fear 
With tender memories thrilled. 

Ended the song, the singer said. 

As to his feet he rose, 

"Thanks to you all, good-night, my friends, 

God grant you sweet repose." 

Out spake the captain; "sing one more." 
The soldier bent his head. 
Then, smiling as he glanced around, 
"You'll join with me" he said, 

— 28 — 



"In singing this familiar air, 

Sweet as a bugle call, 
'All hail, the power of Jesus' name. 

Let angels 'prostrate fall.' " 

Wondrous the spell the old tune wrought; 

As on and on he sang, 
Man after man fell into line, 

And loud their voices rang. 

The night winds bore the grand refrain 

Above the tree-tops tall. 
The "everlasting hills" called back, 

In answer "Lord of all." 

. The songs are done, the camp is still, 
Naught but the stream is heard, 
But ah ! the depth of every soul 
By those old hymns was stirred. 

And up from many a bearded lip 

Rises in murmurs low. 
The prayer the mother taught her boy 

At home long years ago. 

The author of the above poem was the mother of twelve children. 

The late Judge Nat Norris Delaplaine, son of Daniel D. and there- 
fore, nephew of C. D. Hyder, corresponded with his cousin, Mary Hyder, 
from 1847 until the death of both in 1890. Many of those letters re- 
main. I get much of what I am writing here, from them. Chirography 
is one of my hobbies. Nat wrote what I consider an ideal hand. His 
first wife was Miss Miller, his cousin. His second wife, by whom he 
had no family, survived him. Nat's daughter, Mary, visited Europe. 
Her photograph, taken at sixteen, is here. She became Mrs. Judge 
Huggins. His photograph is here, a fine face. In Baltimore Sun of 
Nov. 21, 1906, I saw an allusion to "Judge Huggins, an eminent law- 
yer of Hillsboro, Ohio." Two pictures of Nat are here. A daguer- 
reotype, in his prime, and a photograph in his old age, with his little 
grand-daughter. All are splendid faces. The names are attached to 
all the family likenesses here. 

Joseph D., brother of C. D. Hyder, visited here from Ohio, in the 
fifties. It was fine sleighing at the time. He greatly resembled his 
sister, but was more spare. He had the China radish complexion, and 
was merry and agreeable. Some of his letters are here. His first wife 
was Miss Crist. Theodore, their son, resided at a mill near Frederick, 
Md. He was a member of the Md. House of Delegates in 1872. He 
died in 1900, aged ninety, in health to the last, or nearly. His son, 
Wm. T., died in 1895, aged thirty-five. The Baltimore Sun clipping- 
calls him, the son, one of Frederick's foremost citizens. President and 
general manager of the News Pub. Co., the largest newspaper plant 

— 29 — 



in Md., outside of Baltimore. An active worker in behalf of the need}-. 

Washington, (the second of the two sons of Joseph D. and his first 
wife,) I met. He had the fine complexion. He was, unlike his father 
Joseph, grave in his demeanor. He and his wife lived to an advanced 
age. They had no children, Both were prominent in the Episcopa- 
lian church, Frederick, Md. 

The first wife of Joseph D., brother of C. D. Hyder, as I said, was 
Miss Crist. He was a prosperous miller on the Potomac, and in the 
war of 1812, suffered loss by the exploits of Com. Cockburn's fleet, 
when Washington city was taken. He moved to Ohio. By his second 
wife there, he had a numerous family. He was ninety-two at the time 
of his death, 1875, at his daughter's, Mrs. Virginia Vest, Tipton, Iowa. 
One of his daughters, he named Sophia Sheelar. His son, Sam, mar- 
ried Margaret, sister of Nat N. D. At Sam's death, Margaret married 
Mr. Wolfeley. 

Joshua D., brother of C. D. Hyder, owned the land and vicinity, 
about 600 acres, called "Prosperity," on which the village of Double 
Pipe Creek now stands, in Middleburg District, Carroll Co., Md.,then, 
1794, Frederick County. He, Joshua Delaplaine, founded there a large 
grist mill, with a capacity of 100 barrels of flour per day. He was a 
manufacturer of some note in his day, and carried on not only the grist 
mill but a woolen mill, on the opposite side of the creek, with saw mill 
attached to said woolen mill. The woolen mill was still standing in 
1895, but was last used in 1849. I remember hearing the family say 
that Joshua was pleasure-loving, fond of fox-hunting, and that his 
daughters were beautiful. He married Mary Dern. I saw his grave 
in 1896, at Haugh's [Hawk] graveyard, near Middleburg, Md. He 
died 1838, aged sixty-seven. His wife, I saw, shortly before her death- 
at an advanced age, at her son, John's, Middleburg, Md. 

Of Joshua's daughters, Eliza was educated at Liditz Moravian 
School, Bethlehem, Pa. There is a water-color painting by her here, 
in the scrap-book of Adeline, daughter of J. H. and C. D. H. A 
daughter of [oshua D., and niece of C. D. Hyder, married Washington 
Clabaugh. After her death he married Miss Evans. Of this marriage 
is Harry M. Clabaugh, Chief Justice, Supreme Court, D. C. Mary, a 
third daughter of Joshua D.,and niece of C. D. Hyder,married Thomas 
Metcalfe. They had no children. They lived at their farm, about 
half mile east of Uniontown, Md. The place was afterwards owned by 
John Smith and then by John Babylon. Thomas Metcalfe owned 
slaves for farm and house-work. There is a brick building still stand- 
ing, (1909) near the main house, that was part of their "quarters." I 
used to hear C. D. Hyder's family say that Thomas Metcalfe's mother 
was born in the West Indies, (a Creole) and that she resided in Union- 
town, Md., in a house afterwards owned by John Roberts. 

— 30 — 



John Delaplaine, was son of Joshua D., and therefore nephew of 
C. D. Hyder, but they were nearly of the same age, and they resem- 
bled so strongly that they looked like sister and brother. He lived in 
Middleburg, Md. , six miles from Uniontown, Md. He married Sophia 
Charlton, a first cousin of Frank Key, who wrote "The Star-Spangled 
Banner," "Lord, with glowing heart I praise Thee," and many other 
poems. Key's mother was Anne Phoebie Charlton. I .saw his grave 
in the Cemetery at Frederick, Md. 

One daughter of John D., son of Joshua, was Sophia. I often 
heard Mary Hyder speak of her intelligence and vivacity. Sophia 
married Dr. Aiken, but died soon after her marriage. 

The oldest daughter of John D., son of Joshua, was Elizabeth. 
She married Edwin Clabaugh, of Cloverbrook farm, near Middleburg, 
Md. It is now part of the celebrated Stock Farm, Bolingbrook, (or 
Bowlingbrook,) owned by the Waldens, a full description of which I 
have from the Baltimore Sun. I visited the place, .saw "Tom Ochil- 
tree" and other noted racers, the fine residences and stables, the 
school buildings, where is held a night school for the employees, the 
beautiful Althea hedge, &c. [This was the second Althea hedge I had 
the pleasure of seeing. The first, I saw at St. Jo.seph*s School, ]i)m- 
mitsburg, Md., and at the time it was in full bloom, and one of the 
most beautiful things I ever beheld. The plant is the Hibiscus Syri- 
acus.] 

Elizabeth Delaplaine Clabaugh, daughterof John D., wasdazzling- 
ly beautiful. Above medium height; Of superb physique; Glossy black 
hair which had the appearance of being arranged by a French hair- 
dresser. A perfect complexion. LallahRookh eyes, black and velvety, 
with long, silky lashes. Her face recalled what one reads in Moore 
and Byron of the beauties of the Orient. The nose and mouth might 
have served as models for an artist. I saw a life-size portrait in oils 
of her, in a decollete costume, with a fur boa around her exquisite 
shoulders, but it was not a success. The artist had made her merely 
a fine-looking woman. She had one son, Usher, who married and died 
young. He was educated at Heidelburg, Germany. Two of his 
daughters are yet living. 

All the good fairies must have conspired at the birth of Elizabeth 
D. Clabaugh. She had a cultivated mind, was fond of reading. A 
skilful hand at whatever she undertook, and was amiable and pious. 
She resided nearly all her life in Baltimore, Md. Her husband was a 
millionaire. She was always splendidly gowned. She attended an 
Episcopal, High Church. I used to say that it seemed fitting that she 
should glide in trailing silks down richly-carpeted church aisles, the 
organ pealing, the air odorous with incense, in a "dim, religious light." 
I saw her a short time before her death at sixty-eight, and she was 

— 31 — 



still beautiful. The clergyman who officiated at her burial exclaimed, 
"And this glorious workmanship must mingle with the dust!" She 
had many sisters and they were all considered pretty. They had the 
French art of knowing how to put on their clothing. (Apropos of this, 
a dressmaker once said to me, "Miss X. is my best advertisement. I 
do not toil in vain over her gowns, for she knows how to wear 'em.") 
They were fond of playing chess. Some of their gentlemen friends 
used to say, because the game was calculated to show to advantage 
their well-formed, white hands. 

They had Tilly and Jane, faithful slaves. I remember one of their 
toothsome suppers, — Broiled partridges, hot beaten biscuit, chocolate 
with whipped cream on. When Tilly had gone to slave-heaven, and 
Jane went off, after Emancipation, to taste the sweets of Freedom by 
hiring out, these girls, although they had been trained to being serv- 
ed, stepped into the kitchen, and concocted dishes equally as savory 
as those of the dusky departed, performing their duties with a light- 
ness of touch, and that apparent freedom from painful effort which 
betokens skilled labor and rejoices the eye of the beholder. 

One of these pretty sisters was named, Cornelia Rochester [Dela- 
plaine.] Appellation as high-sounding as Charlemagne Tower, over 
which Dooley raved, in one of his best essays. Nathaniel Rochester, 
founder of Rochester, N. Y., in early life was associated in business at 
Hagerstown, Md., with Mr. Hart, father of Lucretia Hart, wife of 
Henry Clay. Nathaniel Rochester married Miss Beatty,aunt of Sophia 
Charlton, wife of John Delaplaine. The late John Usher Markell, 
National Bank Examiner, was a son of one of these pretty sisters. The 
daughter of one of them is a Society girl in Baltimore, Maryland. 
The Sun often describes her costumes, as she appeared at the Opera, 
or on Charles Street, the promenade. It is from one of them that I re- 
ceived my copy of the portrait of Nicholas Delaplaine, died, 1696. 
One of the sisters has a pair of knitting needles made of part of the 
stairway railing of an old Delaplaine house, commemorated by a 
bronze tablet on the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. building. Main Street 
and School lane, Germantown, Pa. In its cellar, during the battle of 
Germantown, many women and children found refuge. James De La 
Plaine owned two lots, 66 X acres. Market Square was taken from 
one of these lots. During the Revolution the house whose .site is 
commemorated by a bronze tablet, was occupied by Squire Joseph 
Ferree, "a man of wealth and position." He married Miss Dela- 
plaine. A picture was taken of this old house before it was demolish- 
ed in 1885. I saw a picture of the house in two Phila. papers, 1905. 
(Two story and attic with dormer windows.) 

William and Frederick, brothers of C. D. Hyder, died unmarried. 
I always heard it said in the family, that Elizabeth, who married Mr. 

— 32 — 



Beale, was the oldest sister of C. D. Hyder. Elizabeth's grandson, 
Wm. Beale corresponded with Mary Hyder. There are letters here writ- 
ten from his farm at Sand Hill, Scotland Co., Missouri, and one, en- 
closing- his photograph, was written fi-om Jefferson City, when he was 
a member of the Mo. Legislature. When his daughter was born, Ma- 
ry Hyder sent a name for her, Portia. The little girl was called Ma- 
rj' Portia. He speaks in his letters of the piety of his grandmother, 
Elizabeth, and that she used to take him to her room for private 
prayer. Her solicitude bore good fruit, for Mrs. Jane D. Wilson, the 
poet, in a letter to me, about 1896, speaks of the death of Wm. Beale 
and of his eminent piety. 

One of Elizabeth Beale's daughters, Sophia, married Mr. McGuin- 
ness. There is a letter here from their son, written in Camp from 
Mexico, after the battle of Cerro Gordo, 1847. It is written to his 
father in Crawfordsville, Indiana. A letter from Wm. Beale, 1853, 
speaks of his grandmother, Elizabeth, being with her daughter, Sophia, 
Madison Co., Iowa. A letter from him in 1858, tells of his grand- 
mother's death. He says in this 1858 letter that he has one of the 
tinest farms in that part of Missouri, (the northern). 

C. D. Hyder's sister, Margaret, "Peggy," they called her, mar- 
ried Peter Miller. They resided in Va. I remember hearing C. D. 
Hyder speak of her sister, Peggy Miller, riding horseback from Cul- 
pepper, Va., to Uniontown, Md., to visit her. Joshua, the only son 
of Peter and Margaret Miller, went to Madison Co., Va., to reside. 
During the Civil War, that part of the State was directly in the march 
of the armies. In 1852, Nat Delaplaine, from his farm, near Hillsboro, 
Ohio, writes to Mary Hyder that Peter Miller's, at that time, resided 
in Ohio, and mentions two of the Miller daughters, Eliza, a widow, 
and Mary, wife of Mr. Brown. 

As I have said, Mary, aged five, .sister of C. D. Hyder, is buried at 
Rocky Hill graveyard, Fred'k Co., Md. A second sister Mary, Polly, 
they called her, became the wife of John Carmack. Her grave is at 
Haugh's — (Hawk) graveyard, near Middleburg, Carroll Co., Md. 
She died in 1838, aged 48. Polly was a sister very dear to C. D. Hy- 
der. She always spoke of her with the greatest affection. C. D. Hy- 
der had a dream just previous to the most severe trial of her life. 
She was with Polly, then deceased. A dazzling vi.sion flitted across the 
gieat apartment where they were. Both exclaimed, in transport,— 
"There is the Saviour? " To Polly's home in Frederick Co., Md., 
C. D. Hyder's children paid many visits. The children used to come 
in winter from their uncle John Carmack's, and say that no matter 
what else was served for breakfast there, the yeast-raised buckwheat 
cake never failed to appear also. 

John and Mary (Polly) Carmack, had a numerous family. A 

— 33 - 



daughter, Sophia, married George Landers, of Scotch descent. Her 
grandson graduated at West Point. Another, Margaret, married John 
Baker, of Woodsboro, Md. Another daughter of Polly Carmack, sis- 
ter of C. D. Hyder, was Sarah. She married John Fulton, a widower, 
with two young children, a boy, Henry, and a girl, Barbara. Henry's 
daughter, I heard spoken of as being one of the belles of Frederick 
City, Md. She is now the wife of Fred. Miller, Westminster, Md. 
John and Sarah Carmack Fulton resided at their farm, near the 
pike leading from Woodsboro to Frederick, Md., eight miles from the 
latter place. Their residence was fronted by a well-shaded and well- 
kept lawn. 

The mother of Charles Broadway Rouss, the Winchester, Va. 
multi-millionaire, was a first cousin of John Fulton. Mary Hyder 
once went in a sleigh, with John and Sarah Fulton, from Frederick 
Co., Md., to visit the Rouss family at "Shannon Hill," on the Shen- 
andoah River, Va., opposite Shannon Springs. Mary described the 
residence, "Shannon Hill," as palatial. I spent, once, some time at 
the Fulton's with Mrs. Rouss, a beautiful and refined woman. Sarah 
Fulton had the same love of flowers that her first cousin Mary Hyder 
had, and was equally successful in cultivating them. She and Mary 
seemed like sisters, and there was great personal resemblance between 
them. Mary, for a while, taught in Frederick Co., and made 
Sarah's house her home. They had .slaves both for farm and house 
work. Jim, one of them, used, occasionally, to come to Mary Hyder 
and say, "Miss Mary, I'se gwine to a party to-night, please'm gimme 
some big words to use." The farming and house-keeping there were 
ideal, combining the advantages of trained labor with genuine Yan- 
kee thrift. The house and premises were always spotless. I was 
there often during my youth and that of Sarah's children. Aunt Nel- 
ly, a superannuated slave, lived in a cottage on the farm, and her 
home was spotless, too. The memory of that walk to it in pleasant 
weather,— a "toe-path" diagonally across a fine orchard, and through 
a pleasant field, is to me as the fragrance of roses. Mary Hyder used 
to laugh and say old Nell would have to knit to the middle of her 
"seam-needle," before laying aside her work, if the house was afire. 

Mr. Fulton's sister "Aunt Meely," Hved near them. She had a 
son called Thee, for short. (The Th, pronounced as the Th in Theo- 
dore.) This young man was handiness itself. His work-shop was a 
boon to the community. It seemed to meet all wants, like patent 
medicine. Mary Hyder brought home a checker-board and a set of 
checkers, beautifully made,— The's work,— a lovely work-box, of 
Southern Maple, with divisions for spools, &c.; several pairs of wooden 
knitting-needles, graded sizes, beautifully polished and with bone 
finishings, used for wools; bases, covered with gilt and mounted on 

— 34 — 



gilded feet, for cigar-cases, which were worked in a floral design, with 
Zephyr wool, on perforated card-board. "Aunt Meely" had a slave 
too, Mary. I do not know whether she sat at table with the family or 
not, but I am sure she was tidy and refined enough, to have done so. 
A colored lady, in fact. She was the constant companion of her mis- 
tress, as well when the needle was being plied in the house, as in the 
more active duties of the kitchen. Aunt Meely used to say that she 
never ate mince-pie or hash away from home. 

Some of her neighbors, whose house-keeping did not conform to her 
ideals, were described as "hoodley." I must spell the word upon 
phonetic principles, as I have never seen it in print. There 2vere 
families in the neighborhood, whose names, both of master and mis- 
tress, were I to breathe them, would announce the almost princely 
lineage of their bearers, and yet these folks were absohitely guiltless 
of a "nose for dirt," which some of us Border State people have in 
common with the Yankees. 

I remember a rutty lane, the entrance to the residence of one of 
these F. F's. Seated on the tottering post-and-rail fence which 
bordered it, in their shirt-sleeves, and bent almost double, like fowls 
on a perch, were the masters of the house, father and several sons, 
.sunning themselves. The hou.se appeared to be all rear, at least we 
were u.shered in through the kitchen, whose floor was uncarpeted and 
not over neat. The "quarters," nearly always a separate building, 
seemed attached to the main dwelling, for, in perspective was a 
pickaninny lying in a cradle, placidly sucking a lump of sugar tied in 
a rag. The housefly, in large numbers, was al-so present, — and placid. 
Hostilities against this pest were in that day limited to a mild protest 
in the shape of a handsomely-mounted bunch of peacock feathers, or 
in the absence of this, a brush made of strips of curled paper tied to a 
rod. Then, to "mind the flies ofl^ the table," was no sinecure office, 
as it would be tiow. 

The community was one of much merry-making especially in win- 
ter, when a snow-fall would make the sleighing on the Frederick pike 
very fine. The entertainment was of that style which has caused the 
word Maryland to be so often associated with the idea of good cheer. 
Among the many things at the Fulton home to excite my childish ad- 
miration was the large spinning-wheel, for wool. C. D. Hyder had 
only the small wheel, for flax or cotton. The spacious living-room, 
with its generous chimney-place, at one end, two deep windows, at 
the opposite, a window, also a door, opening on a wide porch, — seemed 
a fit setting for the scene. The great wheel, five or six feet in 
diameter, stood in the center of the apartment, the mi-stress pacing to 
and fro, to and fro, its whole length, as she held the thread, a picka- 
ninny following closely at her heels; the wee daughters of the house, 

— 35 — 



each, in her little rocking-chair, industriously knitting. Click, click, 
went the flashing needles, and the ball, held in a liliputian reticule, 
hung on the chair-knob, had much ado to give out, from its gay-print 
receptacle, the bright wool, or the silk-like thread, fast enough. 

Two of the girls attended school at the Convent of the Visitation, 
Frederick, Md. All of them married; one, a physician of the neigh- 
borhood. Mary Hyder often spoke of the pride with which Maggie 
conducted her through the new, daintily-furnished home, the keys 
jingling in a little basket on her arm. Alas, death snatched the littl^ 
wife, in the bloom of her first year of married life. Another, married 
her first cousin, Dr. Fulton, and is noted for her exquisite work in 
embroidery. Another, like C. D. Hyder, and the Va. Mary Dela- 
plaine, is a beautiful knitter. Another, the youngest, who seemed 
born only for the sunshine, went with her husband to Nebraska, when 
it was comparatively a new land, and so, in the beginning, had some 
experience of life on the frontier, but she "took" to it kindly — was 
even enthusiastic, writing home, — "Mother, it is lovely to keep grow- 
ing with the country. ' ' Her husband was a nephew of John McCreary . 
The latter, a youth from this part of Md., amassed a million in the coal 
regions of Pa. 

As I write, there comes to my mind the memory of a bright winter 
day at the Fultons, when we were all assembled in the pleasant living- 
room. One daughter was lining her new wicker work-basket with 
scarlet merino, adding pockets, for spools, &c. Another, was making 
the latest style of lingerie trimming; row after row of fine cords, held 
in place by stitching, the whole, finished with an edging of thread lace. 
I was reading aloud, from "Coelebes in search of a Wife," by Hannah 
More, a book which I suppose is now out of print. 

If I mistake not, there are two silhouette likenesses in the Hyder 
house here. One of Adeline, and one of an infant son of Caroline: 
Profiles cut out of black paper, and fastened on white cards. They 
were taken before my day. I think the persons who made them, 
traveled from point to point, periodically. 

M. de Silhouette was minister of finance, under Louis XV, 1762 or 
3. The plans that he adopted to rid the country of certain embarrass- 
ments, were so absurd as to make him an object of ridicule, in the eyes 
of the lively Parisians. Portraits in the Silhouette style became all 
the rage. The wit consisted in the lineaments being traced on a 
shadow. 

Envelopes began in my day, and steel pens. Most of the old let- 
ters here, have no covers. Quills were sold by the pack. A school- 
teacher, or any scribe, must know how to make a pen. In school, the 
pens were made, or mended, during certain recitations. Standing 
around the teacher, we were like a little army of lancers, points all 

— 36 — 



heading for him, first come, first served. Copies were "set" by the 
teacher, in books made by the pupils at home. The teacher's hand- 
writing was, as a rule, never copied. The copy was writing, what went 
under it was writing. Nomenclature covered both. Classification in- 
cluded both. But in points of resemblance, they were wide as the 
poles asunder. For sealing, there were wafers and wax. Wafers boxes 
are here j^et, miniature cheese-boxes, 2)4-m. in diameter. Wafers 
were round, half inch in diameter, inore or less, and variously colored, 
mostly vermilion. Sticks of sealing-wax, here yet, variously colored. 
Mary Hyder doated upon golden bronze. Seals are here yet, of glass. 
One, blue glass, "Mary;" one, two doves, white glass; another, "A 
letter softens the pains of absence." There is also one of fretted wood, 
for business letters. Sand-boxes are here yet. Black sand, not blot- 
ters, dried writing. 

One piece of C. D. Hyder's first china remains, a salad-dish, wild" 
honey-suckle pattern. The second set of French china is white, with 
blue flower, raised. Also other old table-ware. There is a large Tray. 
36x18, black lacquer, with a border of roses, in gilt. A coffee-pot, in 
white, flowered in brown, about fifteen inches high, including the 
dome lid. Two decanters, one came through Anne's husband, as did 
the walnut escritoire, bound in brass. [The old way of spelling this 
term for a writing-desk, is with thes.] Two coverlets, blue and white, 
with a border in floral design. For these, C. D. Hyder spun the cot- 
ton and wool. She took a premium for them, at Md. Institute Fair, 
Baltimore. It is a Breast-pin, gold bar, entwined with three vine 
leaves, of thin, crusted gold, their veins beautifully distinct. The 
breast-pin here, of white china, with two angel faces, belonged to 
Sophia Hyder. The gold and black enamel one, was given to Adeline 
by Sophia Charlton Delaplaine. The first tea-spoons of C. D. Hyder 
are worn down to the size of after-dinner coffee-spoons, though theH. 
is yet distinct. 

The oak bent-wood arm-chair is here yet, that I spoke of some 
pages back, as belonging to John Hyder, as are the two bent-wood 
chairs that Sophia H. upholstered. There is here an Easter-egg of 
1836, and one of 1852. Both are elegantly "marked" in a floral design, 
by a friend of the Hyder family who attended Liditz Moravian School, 
Bethlehem, Pa. There is a portiere here of a Pai.sley or broche shawl 
that belonged to Adeline H. Another of a large shawl of silk in wide 
plaids, that was worn by Sophia H. A book-case drapery was worn 
by C. D. Hyder. It is an all-wool shawl, buff, with a gay-colored set- 
flower. A window-drapery, fine, silk-like organdie, was a gown worn 
by Sophia H. Another window-drapery was a shawl of white cash- 
mere with an oriental border, worn by Adeline. Two old shoulder- 
shawls joined, make another window drapery. They are of silk, white, 

— 37 — 



with figures in gay colors. A window-lambrequin, all-wool, white, 
with green figures, was a shoulder-shawl worn by Eliza H. More. A 
lemon-colored fichu, of chiffon with the figure of a rose in the corners, 
belonged to Mary H. Another lemon-colored fichu, of chiffon, be- 
longed to Sophia H. One mantel lambrequin is a blue and gold 
changeable silk of M. Hyder's. Another Mantel lambrequin is the 
wide broche border of a "Stella" shawl worn by Sophia H. One sofa 
cushion, foulard silk, black ground, figured with a red rose, was a 
gown of Mary Hyder's. Another sofa cushion is made of some bits of 
a shawl that was so much admired, it was nearly worn out. It was one 
of the prettiest shawls I ever saw, — large, of scarlet cashmere, with a 
border about six inches wide, of />z«^ roses. The brocade silk cover, 
of the card-table, violet and fawn color, was a silk apron, prosented to 
one of the H. family by Laura, daughter of Sarah Carmack Fulton. 
The apron was trimmed with bands of black velvet baby ribbon, and 
had cunning little pockets of black net, crossed in lozenge shapes, with 
the same ribbon. The gimp and fringe finishing on the card- table, 
once adorned the lovely suits of de beige (baije) worn by Mary and 
Sophia H. The hearth-rug, with a yellow chain as border, was made 
by C. D. Hyder in her old age. She called the border, Lorenza Dow's 
chain of life. 

In C. D. Hyder's day, and later, besides the flowers that I have 
been able to remember, and that I have set down, there grew in the 
garden here, many "herbs," as we call them. Lavender, sage, cham- 
omile, mint, thyme, rue, sweet marjoram, wormwood, anise. Lavender 
was the most prized. I must add, elecampane and comfrey. The two 
Box bushes here are at least seventy years old now, 1909. And I be- 
lieve them to be several years older. They have preserved their sym" 
metry very well, considering that this variety of Box, unlike the 
pyramidal Box, is apt to become unsightly with age. The mock orange- 
blo.ssom bush here, is also seventy, or more. I spoke, some pages back 
of the Provence rose-bush here, that is ninety-eight. The Sofrana 
rose-bush, by the Box, is smartly over fifty years old, and the pink 
roses, nearly that age. About 1866, (forty-three years ago,) some 
slips of oak-leaf honeysuckle were planted at the picket fence in the 
yard, with result that, spite of the anathemas of the neighbors, (on 
account of the seed,) there is now, 1909, a fine hedge, completely 
covering the uninteresting pickets. 

In the Hyder cemetery lot, Uniontown, Md., which lot is covered 
with Vinca, locally known as ground-myrtle, a luxuriant evergreen, 
there are two well-preserved and symmetrical Box bushes, planted 
there by C. D. Hyer, sixty years ago; two pyramidal arbor-vitae, fifty 
years old; two pyramidal Boxes, twenty years old; all still symmetrical 
and well-preserved. Within a few feet of the lot, are twin cedars, 

— 38 — 



Jimiperus Virginiaua, over forty years old now, 1909. 

The hat-rack, in the front entry, is made of a reel used by C. D. 
Hyder, about one hundred years old, the /raw<? of the glass in it, is 
over seventy, but the glass had to be replaced. The bureau with 
hanging handles of brass, and the walnut candle-stand, were C. D. 
Kyder's. The book-case, with brass hinges on the doors, was John 
Hyder 's. The red and white "compass-work" bed-quilt was made by 
Adeline. The mirror with brass frame is at least, over seventy, like- 
ly much older. The papers in a canvas bag on the garret, should be 
preserved by the people of Uniontown, Md. They contain much 
writing, by John Hyder and others, pertaining to the village. They 
are of no special value, but the older they get, the more interesting 
they will be. The Hyder letters, &c., are in a walnut box and a brass- 
marked box that belonged to the family. 

During the Ci\nl War, about 300 Confederate Cavalry, Col. Ros- 
ser, passed through Uniontown, Md. Mary Hyder was a "Southern 
sympathizer," so was M. A. W., a girl-friend of mine, living near the 
village. [For m^^self, living in Maryland, a Border State, I did not 
know then, I do not know now, which side I was on, I swaA'ed]. It 
was a fine, sunny day, when the cavalry, C. S. A., passed. Mary Hy- 
der, M. A. W., and myself, were on the Hyder stone pavement. M. 
A. W. wore a "duster," the latest style of wrap, a circular cape, 
three-quarters long, of black and white Scotch plaid, with a hood of 
the same, attached, that could be drawn over the head. In the most 
cautious way, she lifted a tiny end of her duster a tiny way, and waved 
it. A handsome young cavalryman, they were riding very near the 
curb, bent low in his saddle, and said smilingly, in a stage whisper, — 
"Three cheers for the ladies of Md. " 

When the Federals were in Uniontown, Md., a blind man, his son, 
and daughter, were summering in the village. They had been travel- 
ing in Europe. He, the father, was treated for his eyes in Holland. 
The son had got in Europe, a shawl, or handkerchief, over four feet 
square, of white silk, ^Anth the flags of England and of the Southern 
Confederacy of America, in their colors, crossed in each corner. The 
handkerchief was unfolded and supported outspread, by a circle of ad- 
miring young people, in the parlor of a house next the Hyders. 
Though the shutters had been carefully closed, next day an officer 
demanded the handkerchief of the son, and ran his sword through it. 
The son was carried off to camp, (on horseback, behind the officer) a 
prisoner, but was released, upon taking the "oath of allegiance." 
Some boys took it with "a mental reservation." 

Mary Hyder had a valued collection of photographs, of officers of 
C. S. A., which .she hid in the garret, when the Federals were here. 

There is a small photograph here of Sophia, youngest daughter of 

- 39 - 



Caroline Hyder, that is so fine, I should like to have a life-size oil- 
painting of it, by a good artist. That is an iridescent dream of mine. 
But, at least, I should Hke to see the photo enlarged. It represents a 
girl of nineteen, or about, and reminds me of those pictures that ap- 
pear in The Century and other standard periodicals, copies of portraits, 
by celebrated artists. 

"A Collection of Epitaphs and Inscriptions, with occasional 
Notes," by Rev. T. Alden, A. M., says that Nicholas Delaplaine was 
a dignitary of France, as I have stated some pages back, and that he 
died at the uncommon age of 105 years, that an original painting of 
this remote ancestor still exists, that it represents him as having a 
remarkably long and thick beard, and with a solemn and most vener- 
able aspect. 

The Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. 4, says that one Nicholas Dela- 
plaine was a Huguenot, who went to England, 1643, thence to New 
Netherlands. His marriage, 1658, to Susannah Cresson, of Ryswich, 
is recorded in the Dutch Reformed Church, New York city, and the 
baptism of their children is also recorded there. The practice of con- 
tinuing given names from one generation to the other, prevails much 
in this family. 

I have mentioned, a few pages back, an old Delaplaine house, 
Philad., Pa. The Pennsylvania Magazine, Vol. 4, says that James 
Delaplaine, of New York, settled in Germantown, Pa., 1692, on a tract 
of land including Market Square, which was conveyed by him, in 1704, 
as a gift to the borough. Alden, whom I have already quoted, speaks 
of this J. D., as a man of wealth. James Delaplaine married Hannah 
Cocke, of Long Island, Aug. 28, 1692. He was bailiff of Germantown. 
He died, Apr. 12, 1750, and is buried at Christ Church, Philad., Pa. 
The old Delaplaine house, as I have said, was taken down, 1885, but a 
picture of it was first taken. A copy of it was made, 1905, in two 
newspapers of Philadelphia. It was two-story, and attic with dormer 
windows. The account, 1905, said that a bronze tablet on Mutual Fire 
Insurance Bldg., Main Street & School Lane, Germantown, Pa., 
marked the site. The account said further, that James Delaplaine 
owned two lots, 66X acres, and that Market Square was taken from 
one lot, that during the Revolution, Squire Ferree, who married Miss 
Delaplaine, and who was a man of wealth and position, had occupied 
the old house. 

The will of Joshua D., (one of the sons of this James D.,) was 
probated, at Philadelphia, Feb. 15, 1788, and bequeaths to one of his 
children, — "my plantation in Earle township, (Berks Co., Pa.) on 
which I now reside." 

Judge N. N. Delaplaine, Hillsboro, Ohio, in a letter to his first 
cousin, Mary Hyder (daughter of C. D. Hyder) speaks of Gen. Geo. P. 

— 40 — 



Delaplaine, saying, — "the grand-father of Gen. D, was a brother of 
our grand-father." He, Nat, gives quite an interesting account of 
this kinsman. The grand-father of Gen. Geo. P. Delaplaine was 
private secretary to President Jefferson. Gen. D., himself was secre- 
tary to Gov. Dewey, the first Gov. of Wisconsin. Gen. D. bought the 
property, in Madison, Wis., that afterwards was the Governor's man- 
sion. Senator Thorpe, a millionaire, bought the property from 
Gen. D., in the latter part of the 60s. Senator Thorpe's daughter 
married, 1870, Ole Bull, the celebrated Norway violinist. [Ole, it 
seems, is pronounced oley.] Mrs. Thorpe was a friend of Longfellow. 
Governor Rusk bought the residence from the Thorpes. Joseph 
Thorpe married a daughter of Longfellow. Nat writes, of Gen. 
Geo. P. Delaplaine, that he is an extensive traveler and an antiquari- 
an. He once sent a newspaper clipping which stated, at some length, 
that Gen. D. was, at that time, in the island of Madagascar. 

John F. Delaplaine, who died in 1885, was Secretary of the Le- 
gation at Vienna. He left an estate of one million, half of which was 
to be divided among certain organizations named. 

InBalto., Md., Sun, Sep. 11, 1902, among other Book Notices, 
was a Book, from the Publisher, Paul Delaplaine, Paris, France. 

I have on file, a copy of the voucher as to the authenticity of the 
photographs made from the original oil-painting portrait of Nicholas 
Delaplaine, also files of the clippings and letters from which part of 
what I have written here is gathered. 

Notice, that now, 1909, the house in Uniontown, Md., built for 
John Hyder, and occupied by him and his family, is ninety-eight years 
old. That the house has not been materially changed. That the four 
open fire-places, with brick hearths extending some distance out in 
the rooms, still remain. That much of the furniture, &c., is one hun- 
dred years old, most likely, much over. 



41 — 



SUPPLEMENT. 



The following [epitomized] letters were written to me, 1907, by J. 

Albert Beam, M. D., practising medicine at Yochow City, Hunan, 

China. His father, Rev. S. Z. Beam, D. D., CarroUton, Ohio, is my 

first cousin. 

Miss Ella Beam, 

Uniontown, Mar^dand. 

♦ * * ♦ 

I dined, by invitation, with the Taotai. [Tao is pronounced as 
tow in towel, tai is pronounced as tie] The taotai is the chief civil 
official of Yochow, or rather of the prefecture. About 11.30 a. m.,our 
chairs arrived. Two soldiers in uniform headed the procession, which 
brought us to the Yamen, or official residence. Here, one could im- 
agine himself playing a part in a story, such as, "The Prince of India," 
for when we reached the Yamen, we passed, through a large gate in a 
high wall, into an open space, and saw, ahead of us, another entrance- 
around which were painted fantastic forms, dragons, &c., and large 
Chinese characters. This was opened for us without question, and 
we entered the first court. Here was a broad granite pavement, with 
a wide green lawn on either side. One hundred feet farther, we came 
to a terrace, and passing up this, were brought to a stand-still, before 
a large, closed entrance under a long Porch, decorated with lanterns, 
and old-fashioned arms. We sat here, while our men went in, by a 
side way, and presented our invitations to the host. Finally, we heard 
some orders given, and the great doors swung open. We were carried 
into the second court, at the end of which is the judgment hall. We 
got out of our chairs and were escorted by a servant into the inner or 
private court. Just as we entered, the Taotai himself appeared at an 
entrance, and shook hands with us. We sat in the guest-room, talk- 
ing and drinking tea, until dinner was announced. In the banquet- 
hall, imagine our surprise at seeing a foreign-laid table; that is, foreign 
to China. White table-cloth and napkins, silver forks, knives and 
spoons. Also, neat floral decorations, roses, and a little row of flowers 
around the table, inside the plate-line. The niejiu card was written in 
Chinese and English. There was soup, fish, ham, eggs, baked pigs 
kidney, pressed chicken, toasted bread, and lemon wafers. At the end, 
sponge-cake, and coffee. Finger-bowls, with tooth-picks floating on 

the water, were passed. 

* * * * 

June 16, 1907. In the Lu Shaii mountain range just south of 
Kiukiang about two hundred and fifty miles east of this place, is a 
Sanatorium called Ruling, where many hundreds go every summer for 

— 42 — 



recuperation and recreation. The climate of the valley is wearing on 
all foreigners, especially so on women and children. Three years ago, 
when I was at the Kuling mountain-resort, I made over one hundred 
professional calls, on foreigners spending the summer there. When I 
went away, I was not quite sure that I had a vacation, except for the 
change of scene. Our dispensary, or out-patient work, has been car- 
ried on with few interruptions since the spring of 1903. All classes of 
society are found among tho.se who apply to us for assistance. We 
have been called to the homes of the highest civil and military officials, 
and have given aid to the vilest of beggars. On dispensary days we 
see anywhere from twenty to fifty patients bringing complaints rang- 
ing from the clearly imaginary to the most pitiful and distressing con- 
ditions ever brought to the notice of the medical profession. 

Of my dwelling-house, began the fall of 1903, I was architect, con- 
tractor, and master-builder. This was the first foreign house erected 
in Yochow city, so the workman had to be taught our methods of con- 
struction. When I was settled in the house, my home, trying to do 
hard work on the language, I was called upon in the erection of a dis- 
pensary building and hospital. So again I became architect and build- 
er. Result:- "The David Schneder Hay Memorial Hospital," and 
"The Frantz Dispensary." Parts of the hospital plant are, a home 
for native hospital assistants, and other necessary features, as laundry, 
kitchen, and store-rooms. Next began the erection of guest-rooms, 
for the reception and entertainment of those Chinese who come here 
dailJ^ some in a social way and others, to learn something of our re- 
ligion. According to Chinese custom, there must be separate recep- 
tion-rooms for the men and women. In the last four years, we have 
erected a church, a boy's school, four dwellings, and the above-men- 
tioned buildings. 

On the fourth of March, our hospital was formally opened. It was 
a red-letter day in the history of our work. In response to invitations 
issued, over twenty of the civil and military officials, Chinese, attend- 
ed, attired in their gorgeous robes of office. Of the Chinese literary, 
gentry, and merchant classes, some two hundred were present. The 
Hsieu, or city mayor was present, and made an address. Of patients 
treated since that time, only about ten per-cent. were women. 

As best we can, we are trying to relieve suffering, and break down 
some of the prejudice against all things foreign. 

I am enclosing a copy of the souvenir given to all the guests, at 
the opening of the hospital at Yochow city, Hunan, China. As you 
see, the souvenir is a folio, on scarlet paper, with a velvet finish, 
4/^x5 >^. The photograph on the cover, shows the hospital, the roof of 
the dispensary building, at the foot of the Pagoda, and the church- 
tower in the background. The first page, inside, announces, in 

— 43 — 



Chinese, the opening of the hospital. The second page, quotes, in 

Chinese, St. John, 3, 16. 

» * * ♦ 

[Description accompanying a set of exquisite photographs of China, 
which came with one of the letters.] 

1 — The Trumpet-Lilies were found growing wild, on the Kuling 
mountains, China, where people resort during the heat of the valley, 
in July and August. The stalks are from 3 to 4 ft., and the blooms, 
from 5 to 7 inches long. I never saw their equal for beauty. 

2 — Baby Robertson'' s name is Helen. She crossed the Pacific with 
us, and met us in the mountains this summer. 

3—77/1? Taotai. [Tao, as tow, in tower, tai, as tie] Is the highest 
civil official in the city. He is very friendly to me, has called a num- 
ber of times, and I dined, by invitation, with him once. 

^— Junks on the Yangtse. Between Shanghai and Hankow. There 
are thousands of these junks, sailing on the river. Their main busi- 
ness is the transporting of rice. 

5— The Life-Boats. Belong to the city. They stay in the harbor, 
on a sort of life and patrol duty. One day, they sent two, to take a 
party of students over to a beautiful island in the lake. The photo- 
graph is the start. 

6 — Ploughing the Rice-Fields. The rice-field is a mud-hole. The 
plough is a one-handled implement, with a point like a cultivator at 
home. The animal is the water-buffalo. 

1 — The Chinese Shoemaker. Goes from house to house with his 
box of tools. He makes and repairs the soles only. The women of 
every household make the tops of cloth, in many instances, beautifully 
embroidered. The soles are .sometimes many layers of cloth, pasted 
together. 

8 — Yochow City Harbor, 



[From Rt. Rev. I. L. Nicholson, Bishop of Milwaukee, died, Oct. 1906.] 

Feb. 20, 1906. 
I well remember you, and so many others of my dear Maryland 
Mission life and experience. The years have passed rapidly, and I am 
now old and broken down. It is not likely that I have much longer 
to live on this side of the Great Mysterious River of God. I read ev- 
ery line of your Memorials, [A Family History] and with pleasure. 
How well I recall the strong and striking face of dear Miss Mary Hy- 
der ! And the Delaplaine's, I was wondering but the other day, 
whether this life still held those true and devoted souls, or whether 
the other life was nourishing them. I am allowed to write but little. 
God's peace be with you. Aflfectionately your Friend, 

I. L. Nicholson. 



- 44 



LBFe'lO 



A Jamtlg I|t0tflrg 



